Most states, including my home state of South Carolina, select their family court judges through the legislative process. In SC, for example, the SC House and Senate nominate and confirm / elect family court judges. The legislature of most states, certainly including my home state, are over-representative of lawyers. As such, the interests of the bar association are all-too-often elevated above the interests of children and parents caught in custody disputes.
The direct, popular election of family court judges is a welcome alternative to the current judicial selection process employed in most states. By having to win the confidence of the larger public to make it onto the bench, family court justices will be more directly accountable to the people, not special interests, and more amenable to the notion of family law reform.