Judge, 18th Judicial District Court (Arapahoe County)

Christine A. Washburn is the sitting 18th Judicial District Court judge, standing for a retention vote on the November 3, 2026 ballot¹. She was appointed in September 2024 after serving as a magistrate and, for more than two decades, as a Denver prosecutor².

• District Court judge since September 4, 2024, with a docket of domestic relations matters²
• Magistrate in the 18th Judicial District (domestic relations and child support enforcement); part-time Denver County Court magistrate²
• Deputy, Chief Deputy and Senior Chief Deputy District Attorney in the Denver District Attorney's Office from 1999 to 2021; private law practice in 2022²
• B.A., University of Colorado Boulder (1995); J.D., University of Colorado Boulder (1998)²
• Appointed to the bench on September 4, 2024; the evaluation page does not name the appointing governor². This is a retention election: voters decide yes or no on keeping the sitting judge, and no opponent is on the ballot¹.
• Bar poll: Colorado Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation, 2026 evaluation: Recommendation: Meets Performance Standards. "The Eighteenth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance agrees by a vote of 8-0, with one member absent and one vacancy on the Commission, that Judge Chirstine A. Washburn MEETS PERFORMANCE STANDARDS." This is an official state commission evaluation of the judge's performance, not an endorsement². The commission's written finding also says: "While reference was made to Judge Washburn taking too much time to issue orders, the Commission concluded the sheer volume and complex issues in many cases contributed to this dynamic."²