Full Court Press director Tim Cobas urges voter education as Washington Supreme Court sees large turnover

Tim Cobas, executive director of Full Court Press, told attendees at the Cascade Conference that his newly formed nonprofit recruits and trains judicial candidates and plans to publish a judicial scorecard to help voters as an unusually large number of Washington State Supreme Court seats are on the ballot.

Why it matters: Cobas argued that a pattern of midterm resignations and subsequent gubernatorial appointments has reduced contested judicial elections and that voter education is weak—he cited about 3,700,000 ballots cast statewide in 2024 and more than 675,000 undervotes in a competitive supreme court race, in which Judge Larson lost by roughly 20,000 votes.

Full Court Press was founded in January 2024, Cobas said, and provides training on campaign basics—building a team, filing with the Public Disclosure Commission and fundraising mechanics—to candidates who have not run for office before. He said Rob McKenna serves as the organization’s board chairman and that the board includes members from around the state to ensure regional representation.

Cobas described the organization’s approach as nonpartisan and values-focused: "We don't publicly talk about who we're working with," he said, adding that the group does not use political litmus tests. He said the group is finalizing a draft judicial scorecard that will analyze roughly a dozen Supreme Court decisions from the last five years and that it will publish the scorecard and other voter-education materials in the coming days for circulation.

On the state’s bench: Cobas said an unusually high number of seats will be contested this year—five of nine—because of a mix of retirements, resignations and recent gubernatorial appointments. He listed candidates and appointees by seat: for Position 1, he said Colleen Melody was appointed after Judge Yu’s resignation and named Scott Edwards and Laura Christiansen Kohlberg as filers; for Position 3 he named Mike Diaz, Dave Stevens and Jamie Hawke; for Position 4 he noted Justice Johnson’s ineligibility at age 75 and listed Sean O'Donnell and Ian Burke; for Position 5 he said Justice Matson resigned and the governor appointed Theo Angelus and named Dave Larson, Sharonda Alamelo and Greg Miller as candidates; and for Position 7 he said Chief Justice Stevens is seeking reelection and named challengers including Todd Bloom, Kareem Merchant and Dave David Chivali.

On candidate evaluation and campaign rules: Cobas explained Full Court Press uses a candidate questionnaire reviewed by the board to assess judicial philosophy, prior rulings and case experience, calling evaluation "more of an art than a science." He cautioned that judicial candidates are limited in what they may say about how they would decide future cases but may discuss prior decisions; he referenced prior cases (the transcript mentions “Quinn” and “Blake” decisions) as the kinds of rulings that can be discussed publicly. He also reminded attendees that any candidate must be a member of the Bar and meet residency requirements.

On fundraising, Cobas said candidates generally cannot directly solicit donations and programs typically rely on third-party groups or surrogates to raise money on a candidate’s behalf.

Cobas encouraged attendees to read the voter pamphlets and the forthcoming scorecard when it is released and said he would be available at the conference for questions.

The presentation was recorded by TVW (General Interest TVW) for later distribution, Cobas said.