Script for Taylor Johnatakis • September 11, 2026

Kitsap County Superior Court just gave voters two early exits in one year. Judge Kevin Hull left in July. Judge Tina Robinson has announced she will leave February 1, 2027. In both cases, a Democratic governor — not Kitsap voters — decides who puts on the robe first.

These are just two examples of a long-standing process that has been used to provide tremendous election advantages to Superior Court positions.

What happened

Judge Kevin Hull announced his retirement to the county bar in February 2026. His last day was July 17 after about 14 years on the Superior Court. On May 12, Gov. Bob Ferguson appointed Poulsbo attorney Maureen McKeeman to fill the seat, effective August 2. She serves the remainder of the term through December 2028. Judge Hull himself was initially appointed by Christine Gregoire.

Then came the second early departure of 2026. In early September, Judge Tina Robinson — elected in 2020, re-elected in 2024, and listed for a term through December 2028 — announced she will resign effective February 1, 2027. Again, the appointment belongs to the governor. As of this writing, her replacement has not been named.

There have been no specific details regarding the reasons for the resignations. In Judge Robinson’s case, she did mention that she wanted to retire, however, there were no specific reasons for doing so now. It needs to be noted, however, that this is a fairly new trend. Traditionally, judges would serve out their terms unless health, personal upheavals, or a scandal dictated an early resignation. Recently, Washington State has seen that a very large majority of judges are appointed, win their next election, then resign midterm. If it happens a couple of times, it’s coincidence. If it happens most of the time, its planning.

How the appointment machine works

Under Washington State law, a Superior Court vacancy is filled by the governor until the next succeeding general election. The appointee does not arrive as a blank slate. They arrive already titled “Judge,” already hearing cases, already fundraising, and campaigning from the advantage of the office.

Washington’s own judicial ethics guidance treats that person as the appointed incumbent. Unlike other political positions, candidates for judge positions have strong restrictions on what they can say. Because of these restrictions, voters are asked, in effect, to ratify someone who already holds the gavel.

When a judge serves out a full term, the next election is an open contest. When a judge leaves early, the governor chooses who gets the head start. With Democrats holding the governor’s office continuously since 2013, that head start has flowed in one direction for more than a decade. It should be noted that the original framers of the Washington State constitution had their judges voted in vice appointed by the Governor based upon a similar type of abuse that they were subjected to from the appointed territorial governor.

The numbers: appointed first, elected later

If this were rare thing, we could just shrug it off to unique circumstances. However, it is not rare — not statewide, and not in the county courthouse.

Let’s start at home. Of the eight Kitsap Superior Court judges now listed for the current term cycle, six first reached the bench by gubernatorial appointment — Hemstreet, Houser, Bassett, Adams, Ferguson-Brown, and McKeeman. Only two, Forbes and Robinson, first won the seat at the ballot. That is 75 percent appointed first on Kitsap’s own Superior Court. Robinson’s early exit will hand the governor another chance to keep that ratio high.

The pattern holds higher up. As of September 2026, six of the nine justices on the Washington Supreme Court first arrived by appointment — that is two-thirds of the state’s highest court. The court’s own education materials have long said nearly two-thirds of all Supreme Court justices historically were initially appointed. Rep. Hunter Abell, pushing appointment reform, puts the Court of Appeals even higher: more than 80 percent first appointed. That appellate figure is his published tally; the Supreme Court count can be checked seat by seat.

The pattern is not new. Mid-2000s research put more than half of then-sitting Superior Court judges as initial appointees, and a 1973 Washington Law Review account put Superior Court at 75 percent, the Court of Appeals at 92 percent, and the Supreme Court at 66 percent.

And there is the problem. It is a long-term pattern that is repeated over and over again. When you see numbers that show a 75 – 80 % ratio, that is not arbitrary, it shows a planned outcome. We cannot ignore the possibility that judges are told ahead of time to ensure that they should resign early to allow the governor to assign their replacement.

This is also not limited to judges. We have seen other elected officials that resign early. In the case of the Kitsap Sheriff’s Office, the incumbent Sheriff was actually financially incentivized to resign early.

Why Olympia will not fix this for you

Do not wait for a Democratic Legislature to dismantle a pipeline that benefits Democratic governors. Confirmation bills and related reforms aimed at Supreme Court and Court of Appeals appointments have been introduced. They have not become the law of the land. A majority that likes the current results has little incentive to hand voters a cleaner first choice.

That is not a mystery. It is self-interest. Early resignations convert open judicial races into appointed-incumbent ratifications. The party that holds the governorship collects the appointments. The party that holds the Legislature can protect the design. Democrats currently hold both. Expecting them to volunteer away that advantage is not a strategy. It is a wish.

What Republican candidates should campaign on

If change is going to come, it will come because candidates make voters demand it. Republican candidates for legislative seats, county offices, and statewide races should put judicial-vacancy reform on the door and in the mail. Not as a footnote. As a plank.

Here are the points worth pressing:

First and foremost, Republicans should push for financial penalties if an elected official resigns early. If retiring or receiving a pension, those funds should be substantially reduced if the candidate voluntarily resigns except for health or other reasons that are beyond the official’s control. If there is not a pension, then a “filing fee” should be applied for the cost of having to fill their position early.

Additional campaign planks can be:

Make “appointed” visible. Require ballot and voters’ pamphlet language that says “Appointed [year]” for any judge who has not yet won the seat. Voters deserve to know who chose the candidate before they did.

End the free pass for first-time appointees. Bar newly appointed Superior Court judges from the certificate-of-election shortcut for uncontested races until they have prevailed once before the voters. If you want the title without a fight, earn it at the ballot first.

Pass an open-seat rule for strategic early exits. If a judge resigns shortly after winning a term, or with a large share of the term left, treat the next full-term election as an open seat — or make the appointee ineligible for that full term. Serve out your mandate, or do not gift your successor the crown.

Build a shortlist commission for Superior Court vacancies. An independent nominating commission that sends the governor a binding shortlist reduces pure political placement without eliminating accountability.

Demand transparency from auditors and the Secretary of State. Publish early and clearly which judicial vacancies will appear on which ballot. Ambiguity about when an appointee faces voters is itself an incumbency shield.

Candidates who will not say those things out loud are asking voters to accept Olympia’s first pick as inevitable. That is how the appointment machine stays quiet.

What Kitsap should take from this

Robinson’s February 2027 departure and Hull’s mid-2026 exit are a warning, not a mystery. Two Kitsap Superior seats that could have returned as open races instead become appointment-first contests. Three-quarters of the current Kitsap Superior bench already arrived by appointment first. The politics say Democrats will not rush to change it. Republican candidates should campaign on the reforms above — before the next resignation letter arrives and the appointment machine hums again.

Kitsap deserves judges chosen in the open, not inherited from a well-timed exit.