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Shall Celene Gogerty be retained in office as a District 5C District Judge?

Unofficial result: Won — Celene Gogerty (Nonpartisan)

Source: electionresults.iowa.gov

Polk County, Iowa
Retention race

What does this office do?

  • Deciding trials in the county
  • Ruling on evidence and setting sentences in criminal cases
  • Deciding family, probate, and civil disputes

Affects: Public Safety and Crime Control, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties, Housing Affordability,

Celene Gogerty

Nonpartisan · Incumbent · Official site

Celene Gogerty has been a district court judge in Polk County since 2018. Before that, she was a prosecutor with the Linn County and Polk County attorney's offices.

Track record

Track record — General

General · 5 records
  • The Iowa Supreme Court split 3-3 on the state's appeal, which left her abortion-ban ruling in place.

    June 16, 2023

    Source: iowacourts.gov

  • Denied the state's request to lift the court order blocking Iowa's 2018 six-week abortion ban. She ruled no court rule allowed undoing a permanent injunction years later over a change in law.

    December 12, 2022

    Source: bleedingheartland.com

  • Voters in Polk County kept her as a district judge in the 2020 retention vote, with 72.2% voting yes (113,112 yes to 43,471 no).

    November 3, 2020

    Source: sos.iowa.gov

  • Ruled that Nicole Poole, charged with hitting people with her car in Polk County, was competent to stand trial. She had earlier found Poole not competent.

    May 18, 2020

    Source: courthousenews.com

  • Governor Kim Reynolds appointed her a district court judge for Polk County (District 5C).

    November 28, 2018

    Source: businessrecord.com

Track record — Legal Competence

Legal Competence · 1 favorable
  • In the Iowa State Bar Association's 2020 lawyer survey, 95% of the 184 lawyers who rated her said she should be kept as a judge.

    September 28, 2020Favorable on Legal Competence

    Source: nebula.wsimg.com

Sources: polkcountyiowa.gov2