Explore Criminal Justice on the 2020 Ballot
Thousands of prosecutors, sheriffs, governors, mayors, and other state and local officials will be elected in 2020, on the heels of a series of wins by candidates who ran on fighting mass incarceration in 2019. These offices set the policies that shape the prison population, the criminal legal system, cooperation with ICE, and much more.
This page features The Appeal: Political Report’s reporting and analyses of these often-overlooked but crucial elections.
You can now use our interactive tool to track our still-ongoing coverage of these battlegrounds. Or else explore chronologically below. And note that this map is not exhaustive of the hundreds of 2020 races with implications for criminal justice.
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Key races: Referendum Sheriff Prosecutor Judges Other State or Local Officials
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To use the interactive version of the map, please use a nonmobile device.
And the Political Report provides additional resources: A calendar of 2020 elections, with the full list of counties electing their sheriffs and prosecutors. A spreadsheet that identifies candidates for prosecutor and sheriff shortly after a state’s filing deadline.
Nov. 2020: Results
Oregon Became the First State to Decriminalize Drug Posession and Four States Legalized Marijuana
Two Nationwide Guides to Nov. 3
Oct. 2020: California
This Los Angeles County Election Could Have a Big Impact on Criminal Justice Reform
Oct. 2020: Florida
The Sheriff Candidate Who Is Challenging the Poster Child of the Trump Administration
Oct. 2020: Louisiana
How New Orleans Activists Are Pushing D.A. Candidates to End Mass Incarceration
Oct. 2020: California
Prop 17: California Voters Have an Opportunity to Chip Away at a Jim Crow-Era Voting Law
Oct. 2020: California
Prop 20: California Proposition Would Roll Back Years of Criminal Justice Reform
Sept. 2020: South Carolina
Charleston Prosecutor Candidate Wants to “Shuf Off the Mass Incarceration Mindset”
Aug. 2020: Massachusetts
In Massachusetts, the Democratic Party Shifts In Favor Of Supporting Voting Rights for All
Aug. 2020: Nationwide
Progressives Score New Wins in Prosecutor’s Races, Broadening the Movement’s Depth
July 2020: Missouri
St. Louis Prosecutor Faces Voters, After Years of Sustained Fire from Police Union
May 2020: New Mexico
New Mexico DAs United to Torpedo Reforms. The 2020 Elections could Breach That Unanimity.
May 2020: New Mexico
“There’s an Appetite for Change” in Rural Counties, Says a New Mexico DA Candidate
April 2020: New York
A Powerful DA Fought New York’s Reforms. A Challenger Wants to Push Them Further.
April 2020: Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, Liberal Challenger Wins Despite Voting Restrictions and Tough-on-Crime Playbook
April 2020: Wisconsin
Tuesday’s Supreme Court Election Is Latest Chapter in Wisconsin’s Power Struggle
March 2020: Cook County, Illinois
Kim Foxx Defeats Three Challengers in Re-Election Bid as Chicago’s Prosecutor
March 2020: Cook County, Illinois
Kim Foxx Fights to Rewrite an “Inequitable” System as Challengers Fight to Topple Her
Feb. 2020: Los Angeles, California
Progressives See Super Tuesday as a Chance to Transform Los Angeles
Feb. 2020: Travis County, Texas
Austin Prosecutor Candidate Wants to Cut His Budget and Avoid Jailing Anyone
Feb. 2020: Travis County, Texas
D.A. Election Could Bring a Big Change in How Austin, Texas Treats Drug Addiction
Dec. 2019: Illinois Primer
As Illinois Votes for Its Prosecutors, Defense Attorneys Say to not “Just with the Flow”
