Succession, Opportunism, and Rebellion on State Supreme Courts: Decisions to Run for Chief Justice

Abstract

We examine decisions to seek promotion on state courts of last resort, focusing on the conditions when an associate justice will run for the position of chief justice. We analyze data including all chief justice elections from 1990 to 2014 in the states that elect this position. We construct a taxonomy of associate justices who seek the chief justice position, then use regression analysis and postestimation techniques to better understand these choices. Our findings indicate that judicial actors who seek electoral promotion are strategic and motivated by ideological preferences rather than institutional features or raw ambition.