Candidates tout their experience in highly watched race for State Supreme Court

While the races for the state Supreme Court are likely to be among the most closely watched in the 2026 election cycle, the positions are also traditionally the ones voters feel least confident about selecting.

During the 2024 general election, the last time a seat on the bench was on the ballot, 576,000 people who voted for governor opted not to make a pick for Position 2 on the court, even though both races were statewide. The undervotes contributed to one of the tightest races in recent state history, with less than 20,000 votes separating the two candidates in an election where nearly 3.3 million ballots were cast.

The nine-member court is tasked with interpreting laws adopted by the Legislature, hearing appeals from lower courts and upholding the state and federal constitutions. Members serve six-year terms, and once on the court, typically enjoy strong records of re-election.

Following the retirement of former Justice Barbara Madsen in April, Gov. Bob Ferguson tapped litigator Theo Angelis to fill the vacancy. Under state law, Angelis must now run to serve the remainder of Madsen’s term, which lasts through January 2029.

In addition to Angelis, three candidates – Thurston County Superior Court Judge Sharonda Amamilo, appellate attorney Greg Miller and recently retired Federal Way Municipal Court Judge Dave Larson – have filed to serve the remainder of the term.

Ahead of the Aug. 4 primary, The Spokesman-Review recently spoke with all four candidates about their interest in the position, the challenges Washington’s judicial system faces and what they hope to accomplish on the bench.

Theo Angelis

The newest member of the court, Angelis was appointed by Ferguson in March to serve the remainder of Madsen’s term.

As Ferguson considered the selection, Angelis said Madsen advised Ferguson the court should have members with a broad array of legal experience, including someone with extensive private practice experience.

Prior to his appointment, Angelis served as a partner at K&L Gates, focusing on appellate work, intellectual property litigation, and general litigation. Angelis graduated from Claremont McKenna College, London School of Economics, Oxford University and Yale Law School. Angelis also clerked on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“My 25-plus years in private practice representing a wide variety of people and companies, ranging from immigrants and refugees to the largest technology companies in the world, have really been helpful as we think about cases and decide them,” Angelis said.

Although the state Supreme Court was his first judicial appointment, Angelis said he spent “years thinking about” serving as a judge, first actively seeking an appointment as a federal judge. That process included an interview at the Trump White House, which he said included a “cultural clash” during the meeting.

Ultimately, neither former President Biden nor President Trump selected Angelis for a federal judgeship, prompting him to “re-evaluate” positions in the state court system he previously considered.

“Broadly, I just have a really deep love of legal analysis and thinking about the hard questions that arise when he decide how we’re going to govern ourselves,” Angelis said. “And so, I’ve always looked at the judiciary as a place I’d like to end up.”

While judges are prohibited from talking about cases that are either currently before the court or could come before the court, Angelis broadly described his judicial philosophy as an “all of the above” approach.

“I try to carefully consider everything the parties submit,” Angelis said.

Angelis said this process includes reviewing the text of either the state constitution or the law and the structure of the law and surrounding provisions. Angelis said while he also considers legislative history or the history of the state constitution, he is more “skeptical” of the information.

In the coming years, the court likely will be asked to weigh in on some of the most consequential laws adopted by the Legislature, including the recently passed income tax on millionaires. When ruling on the most high-profile cases, Angelis said it’s “critical” for courts to demonstrate that “we’re not politicians in robes.”

“It’s really important that we explain our decision very carefully,” Angelis said.

Angelis’ endorsements include the eight other current state Supreme Court justices, Gov. Ferguson, former Govs. Jay Inslee and Christine Gregoire and Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown.

Dave Larson

Two years after he lost his race by fewer than 20,000 votes, Larson said he is giving it another go because of things he believes he can “add to the equation here, both in some of the court’s decisions as well as the way the court’s operating.”

At the end of last year, Larson retired as a Federal Way Municipal Court judge after nearly 18 years in the role. Prior to 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.

The court system, he said, should be “the only branch that’s constantly trying to put itself out of business.”

“We need to solve problems. People come to us with problems,” Larson said. “We’re the safety valve for society, with either a criminal or civil context.”

One of his considerations in deciding to run, Larson said, is a need for the court to have more trial court experience.

“When you create court rules, and not having a trial judge perspective, affects those rules,” Larson said.

Larson said the lack of trial court experience can also factor into the court’s decisions.

“If you haven’t actually done it, it’s very hard to sit in judgment of judges who have had to make those decisions,” Larson said. “And it can affect the outcome of cases in a lot of ways.”

Still, Larson warned against what he said was the increased partisan nature of court systems.

“It cheats the political process when we turn to courts all of the time to litigate issues that are really public policy issues,” Larson said.

In recent years, Larson has also raised concerns over the number of judges who are initially appointed to the position. In a December 2024 op-ed in the Seattle Times, Larson noted that Inslee had appointed 172 of the 207 judges who sat on the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Superior Courts.

Currently, six state Supreme Court justices were initially appointed by a governor.

“The judiciary is supposed to be a backstop, not an open gate. If you appoint people who are loyal to particular political causes, or partisan interests, you end up having more of an open gate than a backstop,” Larson said. “And even the appearance of those issues creates confidence issues for the courts.”

Larson received the recommendation of the Washington state Republican Party, and was endorsed by the Forward Party, which is co-chaired by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and former Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey.

Sharonda Amamilo

With a nearly 30-year career in the military and more than 25 years in U.S. Army military intelligence, Amamilo said her focus has always been on “systems,” both how they work and how to improve them.

“No matter what role you’re in, it’s important to understand what’s bringing people into the courtroom, what they are being challenged with,” Amamilo said. “I believe it is important for a justice to have a lot of systems knowledge about what is impacting all of the courtroom litigants, the stakeholders that are operating in our courts statewide.”

Amamilo has earned a Master of Business Administration from Saint Martin’s University, a law degree from Seattle University, and a bachelor’s degree from Southern Illinois University, and served as grievance committee chair and helped in collective bargaining at Bates Technical College before becoming a lawyer.

“And then once I became a lawyer, as I indicated, I kept myself involved in systems that were outside of my role,” Amamilo said. “I was the defense representative for the statewide opioid work group when we were having epidemics in methamphetamines and other substances that people were struggling with.”

In 2020, Amamilo was elected to serve as a Thurston County Superior Court judge, which she said gives her unique qualifications in this race.

“The Supreme Court does not get new facts. The Supreme Court does not get new evidence,” Amamilo said. “So the body of evidence of a case that’s before the Supreme Court was already developed at the trial court level. In some of the races, including my race, I am the only candidate with that experience, who’s made thousands of decisions impacting all of the things people think about when they come to court.”

Amamilo is endorsed by state Supreme Court Justice Helen Whitener, former state Supreme Court Justice Mary Yu and was rated exceptionally well qualified by the Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee and the Washington state Veterans Bar Association.

Greg Miller

An appellate lawyer with more than 40 years of experience, Miller said he was “underwhelmed” by an event in April with prospective candidates for the court. After researching the candidates a bit more, he was “stunned” by the lack of appeals experience the other declared candidates had.

“The state Supreme Court decides appeals, that’s what it does,” Miller said. “You need to know how the appeals work, and you need to know state law.”

According to Miller, he’s handled 135 state court appeals, 80 oral arguments in state court, 25 amicus briefs in the Washington state Supreme Court, and was a founding member of the Washington Appellate Lawyers Association and a co-founder of the King County Bar Association’s appellate practice section.

“So it’s like, why do we have a federal law specialist going on the state court that’s going to be deciding state law issues? Because that’s what the state Supreme Court does,” Miller said.

Miller has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and a law degree from Northeastern University.

Miller pitched himself as a candidate independent from outside influence, with a lack of support from a political party or elected politician.

“I get to play it straight,” Miller said. “And so it may be an unusual thing in these days, where we have a lot of people lined up with identity politics and all of that stuff.”

Miller described his approach as “to get it right for those parties under what the law is.”

“It may end up involving the constitution, it may end up involving the statutes, it may end up involving the contracts,” Miller said. “In some ways, it’s a boring process, you go through it, and you do your homework.”

Miller does not tout any candidate endorsements on his website.

Editor’s note: This article was updated to clarify Sharonda Amamilo’s support. Amamilo received ratings of “exceptionally well qualified” by the Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee and the Washington state Veterans Bar Associations, not their endorsements.