Three incumbent justices are facing challengers for their Minnesota Supreme Court seats in Tuesday’s election, and critics warn that two of the challengers hold extremist views.

Those two, Dan Griffith and Tim Tingelstad, counter that they are campaigning to make sure voters retain control over judicial elections. They decry the current system, in which judges come into office most often by gubernatorial appointment. Once they are incumbents, they are rarely defeated, the challengers point out.

GILDEA VS. GRIFFITH

Griffith is running against Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea.

Griffith, 50, works as a private attorney in International Falls. He told the Pioneer Press he would rule on cases before the court based on statutory law and the state Constitution. “Judges are not and should not be politicians,” he said.

He said on his website that he will offer a “servant’s perspective” if elected to the court. “If our judges are unwilling to enforce our constitutional limits on government, then we need to replace them with judges who will,” he said.

According to his Facebook page, Griffith has appeared in recent weeks at the Conservative Candidate Car Crush rally in Champlin; the Central Minnesota Conservative Coalition rally in St. Cloud; fundraisers for Republican Rep. Chip Cravaack; and the Reagan Dinner in Duluth, at which Cravaack gave the keynote address.

Griffith’s current website does not overtly describe his religious views. In his last campaign in 2010, he wrote, “I believe in God. I think every judge should. Then they will not think they have become God once they get into office.”

Gildea, 51, of St. Paul, was appointed to the court by Gov. Tim Pawlenty in January 2006 and elected in 2008. During that time, she heard more than 700 cases and authored almost 100 opinions, according to her website.

Before becoming a Supreme Court justice, Gildea worked as a judge and prosecutor in Hennepin County. She also worked as associate general counsel at the University of Minnesota and in private litigation in Washington, D.C.

STRAS VS. TINGELSTAD

Tingelstad wants to unseat Justice David Stras. Tingelstad, a child-support magistrate in Bemidji, said he is committed to the people’s “constitutional right to choose their judges through meaningful, contested, nonpartisan judicial elections.”

He makes no bones about his religious beliefs and features biblical passages on his website.

“I believe that justice is served when judges fear God and love the people…” he writes. “It is particularly vital that a worldview, based upon the truth of God and his word, is returned to our highest courts.”

Tingelstad, 52, ran unsuccessfully for Supreme Court in 2004, 2008 and 2010.

Stras, 38, of Wayzata was appointed to the high court by Pawlenty in 2010. Stras worked previously in the private firm of Faegre & Benson. He also taught law at the University of Minnesota and clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas of the U.S. Supreme Court.

ANDERSON VS. BARKLEY

The third incumbent up for election is Justice G. Barry Anderson, who has served on the Supreme Court for eight years, since his appointment by Pawlenty in 2004.

Anderson, 58, of Apple Valley also served on the Court of Appeals for six years. He said he has written more than 400 judicial opinions and participated in more than 1,500 decisions of the court.

One of his interests has been implementing electronic filing in the court system. The goal of the change is to increase access to documents, improve efficiency and save money, he said on his website.

Anderson’s challenger is Dean Barkley, former campaign manager for Gov. Jesse Ventura. Ventura appointed Barkley to serve out the two months remaining in Sen. Paul Wellstone’s term after Wellstone died in a plane crash in 2002.

Ten years earlier, Barkley helped found the Minnesota Reform Party, which became the Minnesota Independence Party. He ran as the Independence Party’s candidate for the Senate in 2008.

Barkley, 62, of Minnetonka, says on his website that our “basic rights continue to be under attack by the political system.” He pledges to protect personal rights from unreasonable search and seizure. He also said he would work to enforce strict campaign finance and disclosure laws in the state.

Emily Gurnon can be reached at 651-228-5522. Follow her at twitter.com/emilygurnon.