A half-dozen Arizona attorneys put their names in the hat May 3 to fill an upcoming vacancy on the state Supreme Court.

A state nominating commission will screen the six applications received by the May 3 filing deadline and nominate at least three finalists to Democratic Governor Napolitano, who will make the final choice.

The pick may shift the balance of the court’s partisan makeup while having high stakes for Arizonans because of the issues that reach the justices.

The Arizona Supreme Court sits atop a judiciary that is an important but often overlooked part of state government, with a “profound effect on citizens’ exercise of basic constitutional liberties,” Goldwater Institute researcher Mark Brnovich wrote in a recent report.

The five-member state high court last year declined to consider the constitutionality of the state’s ban on same-sex marriages and the justices are expected to rule in the next year on legislative redistricting.

In other cases in recent years, the justices have ruled on controversial issues such as the death penalty, abortion, school funding and the constitutionality of ballot issues.

If Ms. Napolitano’s track record in more than two years of appointing judges is an indicator, her pick will likely be a Democrat.

Of 22 judges appointed by Ms. Napolitano to appellate and trial courts since she took office in January 2003, 17 were Democrats and five were Republicans. The 17 Democrats included Ms. Napolitano’s one Supreme Court appointee, Andrew Hurwitz.

However, a senior Napolitano aide said the governor doesn’t question judicial nominees about their political views when she interviews them.

“I can honestly say that politics has not factored into any judicial selection she has made so far,” said General Counsel Tim Nelson.

Instead, Mr. Nelson said, Ms. Napolitano is concerned with an applicant’s legal experience, temperament and “who would be the best able to apply the law in accordance with the state and federal constitutions.”

Some Have Ignored Party Ties

Some governors do ignore party ties when picking Supreme Court justices. Ms. Napolitano’s predecessor, Republican Governor Jane Dee Hull, did that with her first Supreme Court appointment, Democrat Ruth V. McGregor in February 1998.

Mrs. Hull picked Republicans over Democrats for judicial openings at roughly a two-to-one margin.

The current Supreme Court vacancy is being created by the age-mandatory retirement of Chief Justice Charles E. Jones, one of three Republicans among the current five justices.

The applicants include Court of Appeals Judges Patrick Irvine and Ann A. Scott Timmer and Superior Court Judges Colin F. Campbell of Maricopa County and Wallace Hoggatt of Cochise County.

The two other applicants are Tucson attorney Jose H. Robles and Scott Bales, a finalist for the last Supreme Court opening and a former top aide to Ms. Napolitano when she was attorney general.

Mr. Bales, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Irvine and Mr. Robles are Democrats. Mr. Hoggatt and Ms. Timmer are Republicans.

Mr. Jones is the last serving justice appointed by former Gov. Fife Symington, a Republican. Three others — two Republicans and one Democrat — were appointed by Mrs. Hull. Mr. Hurwitz, picked by Ms. Napolitano, is the fifth justice.

Ms. Napolitano’s appointee will replace Mr. Jones as a justice but not as chief justice. The justices pick the chief justice and they’ve already decided to elevate Vice Chief Justice Ruth McGregor.

The Supreme Court opening comes at a time when the state’s court system has drawn criticism from conservative legislators and activists disturbed by court rulings on abortion and other issues.

Conservatives proposed constitutional changes to require Senate confirmation of the governor’s judicial picks and plan to press those proposals in the Legislature next year. —