2026 ELECTION: Six Democratic judicial candidates on ballot against procedural placeholders for Manhattan Supreme Court

In New York’s Manhattan judicial district, there are technically 11 candidates running for the six open Supreme Court spots in the 2026 general election — but it’s only the six Democratic candidates who are running active campaigns, leaving them virtually unopposed. The six Democratic candidates running for Supreme Court in November are Appellate Division, First Department Justices Saliann Scarpulla, Manuel Mendez and Shlomo Hagler, and Acting Supreme Court Justices Kathleen Waterman Marshall, Hasa Kingo and Christopher Chin, who will appear under the Democratic Party Line on the ballot. The three First Department justices among those candidates are running for the Supreme Court positions in order to continue serving on the appellate courts. The other three acting Supreme Court justices are running to be elected to three vacancies on the Supreme Court on a more long-term basis after being designated or assigned to sit temporarily as acting Supreme Court justices.  Then there are fiv