the governor, the judge took his/her seat. At the first statewide general election following his or her appointment the person's name is placed before the public on the ballot on a simple yes-no basis, e.g., "Shall Jon R. Smith be elected and retained as Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals, for Middle Tennessee?" If a majority of voters decides this question in the negative, the process outlined above starts over. Every eight years (1998, 2006, 2014, 2022, et seq.), all members of all of the state appellate courts are subjected to this process as well. All judges are elected statewide, not just in the Grand Division from which they are appointed. In 2006, all judges submitted for approval received an affirmative vote of at least 70 percent. Until its dissolution in 2014, the 12-member Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission reviewed the record of incumbent judges and published its findings approximately six weeks before the retention elections. This report gave the panel's rationale for its recommendations based on the public record of each of the judges and a public interview process in which potential areas for improvement were noted. The report summarized these findings and noted the vote by which judge was recommended (or, theoretically, not recommended) for retention, although not how each individual commissioner voted. This report was published in the state's major metropolitan newspapers; the 2006 report appeared in Sunday papers as a special section. The 2006 report endorsed all of the incumbent judges seeking reelection, most unanimously and none by a margin of less than 8-3; one member appointed to the review panel at this time was unable to serve. History The General Assembly adopted the Modified Missouri Plan in 1971 to apply to judges of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Court of Criminal Appeals. Two years later, the Democratic majority in the Legislature was alarmed that Republican Governor Winfield Dunn was going to be able to appoint all five Supreme Court justices when their eight-year terms expired in 1974, meaning that they would subsequently face the voters as incumbents. The Legislature passed a bill to exempt the Supreme Court from the Modified Missouri Plan and return it to popular election, but it was vetoed by Governor Dunn. At the same time, Republicans in upper East Tennessee were pressing hard to create a new medical school at East Tennessee State University (ETSU). Dunn, who was from Memphis, opposed