MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Three incumbents appointed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty won new terms on the Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Chief Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea turned back a challenge from Dan Griffith, a private practice attorney from International Falls who had made four unsuccessful runs previously for the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Associate Justice G. Barry Anderson overcame the best-known challenger, Dean Barkley, a close political associate of Gov. Jesse Ventura who served a brief term in the U.S. Senate in 2002.

Associate Justice David Stras kept his seat in his first test before the voters. Stras was a University of Minnesota law professor and former clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He defeated Tim Tingelstad, a Bemidji magistrate.

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