Justice David Wiggins.
Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins will remain on the bench despite a campaign to remove him in Tuesday’s retention election. Wiggins was targeted as one of the seven justices who voted to overturn Iowa’s law banning same sex marriage.
Justice Wiggins issued this statement today on the vote:
“I want to thank everybody who worked so hard to keep politics out of our courts, and I want to thank the people of Iowa who preserved the fairness and impartiality of Iowa’s courts and agree that equal means equal.”
Chief Justice Mark Cady also issued a statement:
“I wish to thank all Iowans who voted to retain the justices and judges around the state for another term. This is an important moment in the history of Iowa’s courts.
Yesterday, Iowans came together in support of a fair and impartial court system. Today, the full court will continue its work to resolve disputes fairly and impartially based upon the facts of the case and the rule of law and to provide support for Iowa’s exceptional court system and its employees.
I also want to acknowledge and thank all the different organizations and those individual Iowans, from across the political spectrum and from different walks of life, who worked tirelessly over the past few months in support of our courts.”
One man with a keen interest in the vote was Michael Streit, one of the three justices voted off the bench two years ago following the gay marriage decision. Streit says he’s pleasantly surprised by the outcome of the vote.
“Yes that’s a fair statement,” Streit said. “I was fairly pessimistic that he was going to be able to hold his seat without getting more involved.” Streit and the other two justices who were voted off the bench did not campaign to retain their seats.
Wiggins did not directly campaign, but the Iowa State Bar Association did campaign for his retention. Streit is glad that campaign was a success. “The voters have done the right thing for Justice Wiggins, so I’m very happy for him,” Streit said.