In a development likely to send shivers down the spine of any judge who has one, it appears that the vote to legalize same-sex marriage in Iowa has cost three Supreme Court justices their jobs. Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices David Baker and Michael Streit are being voted out by about 55 to 45 percent each with about 90 percent of the vote counted. No others are on the ballot.
The Iowa Supreme Court voted 7-0 in April 2009 that the state's ban on same-sex marriage was illegal.
Ternus was originally appointed to the court by Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who was again elected governor tonight after being out of the office for 12 years. Branstad had declined to say whether he supported or opposed retaining the justices.
No Iowa Supreme Court justice had been voted off the court since the retention system was created some 50 years ago.
California voters are reacting differently. Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno, who voted to legalize same-sex marriage in 2008 and dissented from the decision to uphold Proposition 8 in 2009, is cruising to retention by a wide margin along with Justice Ming Chin in early voting.
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