OLYMPIA – Party affiliations have not appeared next to the names of those running for judge in Washington for more than a century. But the lack of political party labels next to judicial candidates on the ballot doesn’t stop suggestions of political influence in races for the state’s top court, particularly this year.
With five seats up for grabs, the November ballot will include three state Supreme Court members first appointed to their seat by a governor and now seeking re-election. Two candidates, including Justice Theo Angelis, were appointed by Gov. Bob Ferguson over the past year.
Angelis is facing Dave Larson, a former municipal court judge who previously ran for a seat on the court four times and lost his most recent bid in 2024 by about 20,000 votes statewide. The winner will serve through January 2029.
Although the state Supreme Court was his first judicial appointment, Angelis said he’s “been thinking for about 10 years” about moving to the bench, first actively seeking an appointment as a federal judge and was selected by a bipartisan merit selection panel. That process included an interview at the Trump White House, after which he heard his “ideological priorities” did not align with what the administration was looking for.
“I was in the mix there for about six or seven years. And when all those positions were finally filled, I looked around a little bit more and thought about, you know, the Washington Supreme Court is a wonderful court, a fantastic court that has a great docket, really high quality judges extremely dedicated to the administration of justice and ensuring a real access to justice,” Angelis said. “So that was a natural choice for me to apply. And I was overjoyed when the governor chose me for an appointment.”
Should another federal judicial judgeship open, Angelis is unsure whether he would pursue the opportunity again.
“I don’t believe so. I’m really, really pleased to serve on the court,” Angelis said. “Frankly, it’s by far the most exhilarating job I’ve ever had.”
While on the campaign trail and in previous election cycles, Larson has pitched himself as a candidate with broad support who is working to get politics out of a nonpartisan position.
He has received the recommendation of the state Republican Party. He also has the backing of the Forward Party, which was co-founded by former Democratic Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, and the Cascade Party, which was started by Nirvana bass player Krist Novoselic, among others. Larson said he also has the support of the president of the NAACP for Washington, Alaska and Oregon area.
“So I think I have the ability to bring people together in a way that increases confidence in the courts and in government in general,” Larson said.
Still, he thinks judicial decisions are increasingly analyzed through a partisan lens, and says “it’s not supposed to be that way.”
“I know some very, very liberal judges and some very, very conservative judges,” Larson said. “But I would trust them to decide any litigation I was involved in because they understand what it means to be a judge. And I think we have to, in the judiciary, start insisting that we gauge our judicial candidates based on their ability to overcome partisan politics rather than whether they’re kind of endorsed by different political parties in the process.”
He’s also proposed a new method of appointing judges he believes would help reduce politicization and increase confidence in the courts. Larson said he’s sensed that Washingtonians have “almost accepted” that the state Supreme Court has become politicized.
“And that’s disheartening, because it’s not supposed to be a political body,” Larson said. “People look to make sure that you want political alignment in the judge, rather than whether or not they’re able to overcome that and decide cases based on the law and the Constitution.”
While the critique is something Angelis said he’s regularly heard brought up, he disagrees with the idea that politics influence the court’s decisions.
“We have quite a lot of forums where we answer questions. And my opponent, and some other opponents of sitting justices have indicated that they’re concerned that the court is straying into politics rather than deciding cases on the facts and the law,” Angelis said. “At least in the cases I’ve been a part of, I have not seen that, and I don’t think that you can point to any single justice and say, ‘Oh, I’m sure this is how she or he is going to rule on a particular case.’ ”
Angelis, who was appointed by Ferguson in March to serve the remainder of former Justice Barbara Madsen’s term, previously served as a partner at the K&L Gates law firm, focusing on appellate work, intellectual property litigation, and general litigation. Angelis graduated from Claremont McKenna College, the London School of Economics, Oxford University and Yale Law School. Angelis also clerked on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The connection between Angelis and Ferguson dates back more than 20 years, when they worked at the same law firm for “about a year and a half.” Angelis said he “did work” for Ferguson’s first campaign for King County Council, and would periodically see him at campaign events. Like Ferguson, Angelis is the father of twins, and after their birth, the Fergusons gifted the Angelis family baby gear.
“But other than that, you know, I might go a year or so without talking to the governor,” Angelis said.
Despite the connection, Angelis said he has “no trouble ruling for or against any political party based on what I think the facts and the law require.”
Angelis said he has a “very strict process” for each case, which includes writing out his potential biases and his emotional reaction to the case.
“Because social science research tells us that when you do that, you have a much stronger ability to set aside your biases and emotional reactions and to decide the case on the proper grounds,” Angelis said. “And that’s what I do, and I explain that to people as I go around the state, and that really gives them a lot of comfort. Because it is critical that we are independent.”
At the end of last year, Larson retired as a Federal Way Municipal Court judge after nearly 18 years in the role. Before serving as a judge, Larson spent 23 years as a trial lawyer and previously served as a board member and president of the Federal Way School Board.
Larson is a graduate of the Seattle University School of Law and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Puget Sound. Larson said he’s running because he feels a “sense of duty.”
“I think there’s a lot of things happening both inside and outside of the judiciary that cause the public to lose confidence in government,” Larson said. “And I think, in my 18 years of public service as a trial judge, I think I have something to add to the equation; I think I can be somebody that brings calm to the storm.”
Following his defeat in 2024, Larson proposed an alternative method for the state to select judges. At the time, 83% of judges in the state had been first appointed by then-Gov. Jay Inslee.
Under his model, a Judicial Elections Commission would evaluate candidates for the Supreme Court, court of appeals, or superior court and grade them on qualifications including education and legal and judicial experience. When a vacancy opens, the governor would be able to select from the top three rated candidates.
Larson said the process, which would require approval by the Legislature to be enacted, would be “truly merit-based.”
“Instead of the examples, the two examples I brought up this year,” Larson said, referring to Angelis and fellow Ferguson appointee Justice Colleen Melody. “And again, even if both of them are great jurists, the appearance is that it’s cronyism. And this would get rid of that.”
Angelis said his concern about perceived judicial bias is that “there are individuals around the state who are concerned about that.”
“I want to speak to them and make sure that they understand that who appointed me does not figure into my thinking at all,” Angelis said.
Angelis said he hasn’t looked closely at Larson’s proposal, but it “doesn’t sound like it’s consistent with the state constitution.”
“Our constitution was created during the Progressive era in the late 1800s that went through the 1920s or so. And it was an era where the voters were seen as being supreme, and they didn’t want entrenched interests,” Angelis said. “But at the same time, it also provided for a very clear rule for what would happen if there was a vacancy.”