November 3, 2026 · the bottom of your ballot
The 13 judges on your ballot
They are not running against anyone. Each is a yes-or-no question, and the state publishes a real evaluation of every one of them. Here they all are.
Last verified September 1, 2026. We re-check every Monday through the election.
The short version: 13 judges, and the citizen commissions found that all 13 meet performance standards. 123 Colorado judges are standing for retention statewide. Citizen commissions found three of them did not meet performance standards. None of the three are on a Douglas County ballot.
What you're actually voting on
Judges do not run against anyone. Each is a yes-or-no question: keep them or not. Before the vote, a citizen commission interviews the judge, watches them in court, reads opinions they wrote, and surveys the attorneys and non-attorneys who appeared before them, then rules on six statutory standards — integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, administrative performance, and service to the profession and the public.
A yes keeps the judge for another term. A no leaves the seat vacant, and it gets filled through Colorado's judicial appointment process rather than by a runner-up, because in a retention vote there is no runner-up.
Every judge on your ballot
Local judges first, since those are the ones nobody else covers. Each name links to that judge's full state evaluation.
23rd Judicial District Court
These are our district judges, covering Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties.
- Andrew BaumMeets performance standards
Domestic relations and the new criminal Problem Solving Courts — Sobriety, Recovery, Wellness, and Veterans Treatment and Support — and led the effort to set up the district's newly mandated competency courts.
Commission vote: 7-0, unanimous. 75% of 23 attorneys and 82% of 18 non-attorneys said he meets standards.
- Victoria E. KlingensmithMeets performance standards
Civil and criminal matters in Douglas County District Court. Appointed September 2023 after about 19 years as a deputy district attorney in the 18th Judicial District.
Commission vote: 6-1 — the only split vote among our six local judges. Just four attorneys returned a survey, and one of the four said she meets standards. Eleven non-attorneys responded and 82% said she does.
- Theresa SladeMeets performance standards
A mixed docket in Elbert County; has served in Douglas, Arapahoe and Elbert counties across criminal, civil, domestic relations, juvenile, mental health and probate. Appointed August 2012.
Commission vote: Unanimous. 82% of 12 attorneys and 60% of 10 non-attorneys said she meets standards.
- Daniel W. WarholaMeets performance standards
Moved from a domestic relations docket to a full-time criminal docket in October 2025. Appointed August 2024; previously an Assistant U.S. Attorney for Colorado.
Commission vote: 6-0, with one commissioner recusing. 82% of 14 attorneys and 67% of 15 non-attorneys said he meets standards.
Douglas County Court
County court handles traffic, misdemeanours, small claims and civil cases under $25,000 — the court most residents actually encounter.
- Lawrence BowlingMeets performance standards
Appointed January 2011.
Commission vote: 7-0, unanimous. 92% of responding attorneys and 86% of responding non-attorneys said he meets standards — the strongest attorney number of our six.
- Kolony L. FieldsMeets performance standards
Appointed December 2019.
Commission vote: 7-0, unanimous. 89% of responding attorneys and 86% of responding non-attorneys said she meets standards, out of 26 people who responded in total.
Colorado Supreme Court
On every Colorado ballot, not just ours.
- William W. Hood, IIIMeets performance standards
Colorado Court of Appeals
Also on every Colorado ballot.
- Rebecca Rankin FreyreMeets performance standards
- Elizabeth L. HarrisMeets performance standards
- Katherine E. LumMeets performance standards
- Pax MoultrieMeets performance standards
- Karl L. SchockMeets performance standards
- Grant SullivanMeets performance standards
A note on those survey numbers
Treat them carefully, because the samples are tiny. Judge Klingensmith's attorney survey is the clearest example: the percentage that gets quoted is 25%, but only four attorneys returned a survey, so that is one person saying yes and three saying no. Judge Baum's 75% comes from 23 attorneys. Those two numbers are not measuring the same thing, and a table of bare percentages would imply they were.
That is why we print the respondent count every time, and why the commission's own reasoning matters more than the survey line. The commissions interview the judge, watch them work, and read what they wrote.
Every recommendation, vote and survey figure on this page is taken from the judge's own evaluation published by the Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation. Verified September 1, 2026.
Frequently asked
Judges are not running against anyone. Each name is a separate yes-or-no question: should this judge stay on the bench. A yes keeps them for another term. If a judge loses a retention vote, the seat becomes vacant and is filled through Colorado’s appointment process rather than by whoever came second, because there is no second.
Thirteen. One Colorado Supreme Court justice and six Court of Appeals judges, which appear on every ballot in the state, plus four district judges from the 23rd Judicial District and two Douglas County Court judges. All thirteen were found to meet performance standards.
A citizen commission, not the courts. For our judges it is the 23rd Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance. The commission interviews the judge, watches them in court, reads opinions they wrote, and surveys the attorneys and non-attorneys who appeared before them, then rules against six standards set in state law: integrity, legal knowledge, communication skills, judicial temperament, administrative performance, and service to the profession and the public.
No. All thirteen were found to meet performance standards. Statewide, 123 judges are standing for retention and commissions found three did not meet standards — none of them on a Douglas County ballot. The closest thing to a split locally was Judge Victoria Klingensmith, whom the commission passed on a 6-1 vote rather than unanimously.
Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties. It is Colorado’s newest judicial district, so its judges are the ones you share with Elbert and Lincoln rather than with Arapahoe County as before.
Yes, a blank simply is not counted for that question and does not invalidate the rest of your ballot. But the evaluations exist precisely so the choice does not have to be a guess, and every judge on this page links to their full evaluation, including the survey results and the commission’s reasoning.
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