Laura Christensen Colberg is on the ballot for Washington State Supreme Court, Position 1, in the state’s primary election on August 4, 2026. Voters across Washington are deciding whether the longtime family law attorney and court commissioner advances to the November general election against two rivals for a seat on the state’s highest court.
Who Is Laura Christensen Colberg?
Colberg grew up in Wenatchee, Washington, where she graduated as high school valedictorian. She represented the United States as a Rotary Exchange Student in Venezuela during a gap year, an experience her campaign says shaped her appreciation for American constitutional freedoms.
She put herself through college at Seattle Pacific University, working at Ken’s Market on Queen Anne to cover expenses not paid by scholarships. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication before earning her law degree from the University of Washington School of Law.
Colberg has practiced family law for close to 30 years. Since 2008, she has also served as a Commissioner pro tem in Snohomish County Superior Court, handling the family law motions calendar for 18 years. In that role, she has decided thousands of cases involving divorce, child custody, paternity, and protection orders. She also taught Family Law and Community Property as a Rigos Bar Review lecturer.
She lives in Lake Forest Park, Washington, and has been married to Jason Colberg for thirty years. The couple has two adult sons, a daughter-in-law, one granddaughter, and another grandchild on the way.
The Race for Position 1
Colberg is running for Position 1 on the Washington Supreme Court, a seat currently held by Justice Colleen Melody. Governor Bob Ferguson appointed Melody to the bench in January 2026, after Justice Mary Yu resigned in December 2025. Before her appointment, Melody spent 11 years leading the civil rights division at the Washington State Attorney General’s Office.
The primary ballot for Position 1 includes three names: Melody, Colberg, and tax attorney Scott Edwards. Because this is a nonpartisan seat filled through Washington’s top-two primary system, the two candidates who receive the most votes on August 4 move on to the November 3 general election, regardless of party.
Colberg has framed her candidacy around judicial independence. In an interview with The Center Square published in June 2026, she said she wants voters to weigh impartiality and courtroom experience over political connections. She has also argued that no sitting justice has brought hands-on family law experience to the state’s highest court since 2006, a gap she says her 30-year trial-level record can fill.
Campaign Finance and Endorsements
Public disclosure records reviewed as of July 10, 2026, show Colberg had raised almost $27,000 for her campaign. That total includes roughly $4,700 she personally loaned the campaign, in addition to nearly $10,000 she contributed directly. Her filings had shown no contributions or expenditures earlier in the race, as of mid-May 2026, reflecting a late fundraising start relative to a sitting justice with the advantages of incumbency.
The Washington State Republican Party made Colberg one of its official recommended candidates for the Supreme Court on June 24, 2026. WAGOP Chairman Jim Walsh cited her courtroom experience, family law expertise, and background as a court commissioner as reasons for the endorsement. The party also recommended Todd Bloom for Position 7 in the same announcement, joining earlier recommendations for judges Dave Larson and David Stevens in other open Supreme Court races.
On the other side of the race, Justice Melody has picked up endorsements from The Seattle Times and The Stranger, two of the state’s most closely watched editorial boards. The Seattle Times editorial board wrote that the criticisms Colberg and Edwards raised against Melody were not compelling, noting that Melody’s political ties are not unusual for a longtime public service attorney and can be managed through recusal when conflicts arise.
Colberg’s Judicial Philosophy
In candidate questionnaires, Colberg has repeatedly emphasized that she avoids offering opinions on issues likely to reach the state Supreme Court. Asked directly whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision was correctly decided, she declined to answer, saying doing so could compromise her ability to appear impartial if a related case came before her.
She has spoken more openly about religious liberty, describing the Washington and U.S. constitutions as guaranteeing freedom “of” religion rather than freedom “from” religion, and pointing to the historical convictions of the nation’s founders as context for her reading of the text.
Colberg also serves as director of Free Methodist Bible Quizzing, a role that reflects her active involvement in her church community outside the courtroom.
A Crowded 2026 Ballot for the State’s Highest Court
Washington’s 2026 election is unusually significant for the judiciary. Five of the nine seats on the state Supreme Court are up for election this year, a rare turnover tied to the terms of three justices expiring in January 2027 plus the special election triggered by Yu’s resignation.
Four of those five races appear on the August primary ballot. Position 4 skipped the primary because only two candidates filed, sending them straight to November. The Position 1 race, featuring Colberg, Melody, and Edwards, is among the most closely watched because it pits an appointed incumbent against two outsider challengers with very different professional backgrounds.
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs’s office reported that 688 total races and 1,334 candidates appear on primary ballots statewide in 2026, alongside all 98 state House seats and 24 of 49 state Senate seats. Turnout in comparable past primaries has hovered around 40 percent of Washington’s roughly 5.1 million registered voters.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Office sought | Washington Supreme Court, Position 1 |
| Primary election date | August 4, 2026 |
| General election date | November 3, 2026 |
| Opponents | Justice Colleen Melody (incumbent), Scott Edwards |
| Legal experience | 29-30 years in family law |
| Judicial experience | 18 years as Snohomish County Superior Court commissioner pro tem |
| Education | Seattle Pacific University (B.A.), University of Washington School of Law |
| Party recommendation | Washington State Republican Party (June 24, 2026) |
| Funds raised (as of July 10, 2026) | Approximately $27,000 |
| Residence | Lake Forest Park, Washington |
What Happens Next
Ballots for Washington’s August 4 primary were mailed to registered voters starting July 17, 2026, and are due back by 8 p.m. on Election Day, either by mail postmark or in-person drop box. The Secretary of State’s office has until August 21, 2026, to certify the primary results.
If Colberg finishes among the top two vote-getters for Position 1, she will face either Melody or Edwards in the November general election for a full six-year term on the Washington Supreme Court. If she does not, her bid for the seat will end with the primary.
Voters weighing the Position 1 race have pointed to judicial record and endorsements as the clearest signals available, since candidates like Colberg have limited how much they say about issues that could come before the court. As ballots are counted this week, her family law background and the WAGOP’s backing remain the central pieces of her campaign pitch to Washington voters.
Keep checking back for the latest updates on Laura Christensen Colberg and the 2026 Washington Supreme Court race as primary results come in.