Justice Larkin E. Walsh will appear on the Nov. 3, 2026, Kansas general election ballot for a retention vote on Kansas Supreme Court Position 6.

The vote is statewide. Kansas Supreme Court justices face nonpartisan retention elections in which voters decide whether to keep a justice on the bench. Walsh was appointed to the court by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on Aug. 7, 2025, to fill the vacancy created by Justice Evelyn Wilson's retirement on July 4, 2025, according to the Kansas Judicial Branch. Walsh was certified for the ballot, according to BallotReady election data.

Candidate information

  • Name: Larkin E. Walsh
  • Residence: Leawood, Kansas, according to the Kansas Reflector
  • Office sought: Kansas Supreme Court Justice, Position 6 (retention)
  • Education: Bachelor's degrees in English and studio art from Southern Methodist University (2001); juris doctor from the University of Kansas (2004), according to BallotReady
  • Appointed by: Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, Aug. 7, 2025

Walsh is the seventh woman to serve on the Kansas Supreme Court in its 164-year history and the first woman to join the high court directly from private practice, according to the Kansas Judicial Branch. She is also the youngest justice on the court, according to the Kansas Reflector.

Experience and public service

Walsh was informally sworn in on Sept. 17, 2025, and formally sworn in on Nov. 21, 2025, according to the Kansas Judicial Branch.

Before joining the court, Walsh spent her last dozen years in private practice focused on civil rights, workers' rights, consumer protection and complex class actions, according to the Kansas Judicial Branch's biography page. She maintained an appellate practice in Kansas appellate courts, multiple U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Her career included serving as a research attorney for Kansas Supreme Court Justice Carol A. Beier, a law clerk at the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, of counsel at Stueve Siegel Hanson, an attorney at Chinnery Evans & Nail, an attorney and then partner at Sharp Law, and senior counsel at Stueve Siegel Hanson, according to BallotReady. Her most recent role before appointment was senior counsel at Stueve Siegel Hanson.

Walsh also served as a member of the Kansas Board of Law Examiners and as co-chair and later editor of the Kansas Bar Association Annual Survey of Law, according to the Kansas Judicial Branch.

At the University of Kansas School of Law, Walsh served as staff member and articles editor for the Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy and as editor-in-chief of the law school newspaper, according to the Kansas Judicial Branch.

On the issues

Judicial philosophy: Walsh said she is "profoundly committed to the fundamental mission of the courts: ensuring access to fair and impartial justice through fidelity to the rule of law." She pledged to "faithfully interpret and impartially apply the law to the facts of each unique case, irrespective of popular opinion or political wins, and all while maintaining a humble awareness of each decision's impact on people and on history," according to a statement published by the Kansas Judicial Branch.

Candidate responses were drawn from official statements published by the Kansas Judicial Branch. No additional issue questionnaire responses were available for this profile.