On January 13, Montana asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restore the state law that makes it a crime for a political party to support, endorse, or oppose a candidate in state judicial elections. See this story. The case is Fox v Sanders County Republican Central Committee. Thanks to Mike Fellows for the link.
For the most part people knew which side of the isle these candidate judges sit on. So what’s the difference. In principle these races aren’t all the non-partisan.