California Supreme Court Associate Justice Joshua P. Groban is on the ballot Nov. 3, 2026, in a nonpartisan retention election.

Voters will decide a single question: should Groban continue serving on the state's highest court?

Groban was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Nov. 14, 2018, to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Associate Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, according to the California Governor's Office archive. The Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed him on Dec. 21, 2018, and he was sworn in on Jan. 3, 2019. In the November 2022 election, California voters retained Groban with 68.4% of the vote, according to Wikipedia.

A retention election is not a contest between candidates. Voters cast a "yes" or "no" vote on whether the justice should remain on the bench. Recent retention elections in California have rarely proved contentious; over the last three midterm cycles, all justices received at least two-thirds of the vote, according to Bolts Magazine.

Candidate information

  • Full name: Joshua P. Groban
  • Date of birth: Aug. 15, 1973
  • Hometown: San Diego, where he attended public schools
  • Education: Bachelor of arts, Stanford University (1995); juris doctor, Harvard Law School (1998)
  • Appointed by: Gov. Jerry Brown (Democrat)
  • Ballot status: Certified for the ballot

Experience and public service

Before joining the bench, Groban worked in private practice and government, according to the Supreme Court of California's biography page, the Governor's Office archive and CalMatters.

  • Law clerk, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, for Judge William C. Conner (1998–1999)
  • Attorney, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (1999–2005)
  • Attorney, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP (2005–2010)
  • Legal counsel, Jerry Brown for Governor campaign (2010–2011)
  • Senior advisor, Office of Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. (2011–2018)
  • Lecturer, UCLA School of Law (2014–2018)
  • Associate justice, California Supreme Court (Jan. 3, 2019–present)

In private practice, Groban specialized in complex civil litigation with a focus on antitrust, internal investigations and intellectual property, according to the Supreme Court of California. As senior advisor to Brown, Groban oversaw the appointment of approximately 600 judges throughout the state, roughly one out of every three judges in California. The Governor's Office called those appointments the most diverse in the state's history.

On the issues

No issue positions or policy statements from Justice Groban were available in the reviewed materials for this profile.

Endorsements

No endorsements were available in the reviewed materials for this profile.

Santa Monica voters will see the retention question on their Nov. 3 ballot. The election is statewide.

This profile was compiled from publicly available sources including the Supreme Court of California, the California Governor's Office archive, CalMatters, Bolts Magazine and Wikipedia. No candidate questionnaire responses were available.