Kentucky

The LBA has released the results of the 2008 Judicial Poll that were conducted to determine attorneys' opinions about candidates in contested judicial races on the November ballot.  

One statistic that is not provided is the cumulative "qualified" and "highly qualified" numbers, and these do not really come into play in the Supreme Court and 4th Division races.

However, the results are statistically significant in the three district court races.  The numbers that follow are the combined numbers of qualified/highly qualified:

• Division 2
  
  • Ann Bailey Smith 72.4%
  • John J. Vandertoll 19.5%
• Division 8
  • D Steven Parks 4.1%
  • David P. Bowles 42.3%
  • Anne Dedman Watkins 23.3%
  • Theodore S. "Ted" Shouse 19.9%
• Division 16
  • Katie King 7.8%
  • David Larry Holton II 34.5%

Of course, the flip side on these numbers are those lawyers who believe a particular candidate is "unqualified".   Here, the candidates want a LOW PERCENTAGE.

The percentages for the two Supreme Court race again are not statistically significant with less than 3% thinking either candidate was unqualified.

In the Jefferson District Court Division 8 race with four candidates vying for the position.  The "unqualified" numbers go from  Theodore S. "Ted" Shouse at only 5.4% to  Ann Dedman Watkins with 11.3%  However, an interesting ratio from these numbers is the "qualified/highly qualified" to "unqualified" ratios this division's race based upon votes actually received rather than allowing the non rated and not voting numbers to affect the percentages.  The following percentages were calculated by taking the combine numbers of votes for qualified/highly qualified as a percentage of the total votes actually cast (excluding do not know and not rated).  Thus a higher percentage show those candidates with a more positive rating.  Of course, these are just numbers with no statistical relevance other than a high rating. Thus, of those who knew three of the judicial candidates, they received favorable ratings with less than a 7 percentage point spread from high to low.

• D Steven Parks 32.8%
  
• David P. Bowles 85.3%
  
• Anne Dedman Watkins 67.3%
  
• Theodore S. "Ted" Shouse 78.6%

Of course, like all polls there is something good to be found in each by each candidate.  And all must be counterbalanced by the old saw regarding statistics "lies, lies and damn statistics!"

Pick what you like, but thanks to all the lawyers who took their time to participate.