Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis will not seek reelection to the Washington Supreme Court in 2026

Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis will not seek reelection to the Washington Supreme Court in 2026

Washington State Supreme Court Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis, 57, has announced that she will not seek reelection for a second term, and will serve through the end of her term which ends on December 31, 2026.

First elected to the Court in 2020 following an appointment by Governor Jay Inslee, she announced her decision to colleagues Thursday afternoon.

"It has been an honor to serve Washington state as a state Supreme Court justice. I am excited for the coming year on the court and then continuing my career answering the call to do justice, a call I have followed throughout my career," said Justice Montoya-Lewis.

"While I will step away from my work as a justice at the end of 2026, I have no plans to retire. I look forward to writing books, teaching and mentoring law students, lawyers and judges, and building and learning new ways to create a more equitable world."

As a member of the Pueblo of Isleta and a descendant of the Pueblo of Laguna, two federally recognized tribes in New Mexico, she became the second Native American to sit on a state supreme court anywhere in the country and the first in Washington state. After winning a contested election for a full six-year term in 2020, she became the first Native American to win statewide office in Washington. She is also of Jewish descent.

Prior to becoming an Associate Justice, she served as a Superior Court judge for Whatcom County for five years, where she heard criminal and civil trials and presided over the Whatcom County Therapeutic Drug Court. In the 15 years prior to her work on the Superior Court, she served as a tribal court judge for multiple tribes in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest.

As a former tenured Associate Professor at Western Washington University's Fairhaven College, she continued teaching a wide variety of audiences including judges, social workers, lawyers, and advocates on how our biases impact decisions, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and best practices in child welfare and domestic violence cases.

Justice Montoya-Lewis graduated with her BA degree from the University of New Mexico in 1992 and completed her law degree and Master of Social Work degree at the University of Washington in 1995 and 1996 respectively.

Justice Montoya-Lewis holds position 3 on the Washington Supreme Court with her term expiring at the end of this year. Washington Supreme Court justices are elected on a rotational basis, for six-year terms.

For a full biography, please visit www.courts.wa.gov.