Judges — from the local level to the state supreme court level — are not there to make voters happy. They are there to uphold the law and the state and federal constitution. By definition, that will sometimes make people unhappy, but "justice" is not about "happiness," no matter the definition.
More pernicious, though, than big money campaigns lambasting supreme court justices for not being "tough on crime" is the extent to which such campaigns seem orchestrated by organizations that aren't particularly tied to law and order, but have other interests that they would like to see more favorably treated at the highest state levels …
The Big Money Propping Up Harsh Sentences
Special-interest groups are funneling millions of dollars into state-court elections.
Follow the paper trail……
I just do not understand this mania in the US of electing everyone. In a representative democracy you elect the leadership, who appoint the bureaucracy. That way the bureaucracy works for the leadership, and can not claim a mandate legitimacy to oppose. If the laws are clearly written, then even if a judge is politically opposed to a decision they can’t oppose of legal grounds.