DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three Iowa Supreme Court justices who helped legalize gay marriage in the state seven years ago will face voters on Nov. 8 for the first time since the ruling, but they are refusing to campaign for their jobs because they argue the courts should remain above politics.

Chief Justice Mark Cady and Justices Daryl Hecht and Brent Appel need a simple majority of votes to remain on the bench. They’re among seven justices to rule unanimously in 2009 that same-sex couples must be allowed to marry in Iowa. Three others were removed from the bench in 2010 after Christian conservatives spent $1 million to defeat them. A campaign that aggressive hasn’t been organized this year.

The seventh justice on the gay marriage decision received enough votes to stay in 2012.