He graduated from the United States Army Adjutant General School at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana.

In 1972, when incumbent Governor of Montana Forrest Anderson declined to run for a second term, Judge ran to succeed him.

He ran for re-election for a third consecutive term in 1980, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by his lieutenant governor, Ted Schwinden, who went on to win the general election.

[1] When Schwinden declined to seek re-election to a third term in 1988, Judge ran to succeed him, and won a competitive and crowded Democratic primary.

In the general election, Stan Stephens, the former President of the Montana Senate and the Republican nominee, defeated Judge by a slim margin.