From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 19 min
| California judicial elections, 2014 | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Total candidates: | 608 |
| Primary candidates: | 111 |
| General election candidates: | 520 |
| Incumbency | |
| Incumbents: | 509 |
| Incumbent success rate: | 99% |
| Competition - general election | |
| Percent of candidates in contested races: | 4% |
| Percent uncontested: | 86% |
| Percent retention: | 10% |
2015 →
← 2013
|
| Judicial Elections |
|---|
| Judicial elections, 2014 |
| Judicial election dates |
| Candidates by state |
| Supreme court elections |
The key races amongst many California judicial elections in 2014 were the contested superior court races. The following counties featured trial court races with two or more candidates: Butte, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Imperial, Los Angeles, Monterey, Nevada, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Yolo and Yuba.
Of the 470 superior court judges who ran for re-election in the 2014 general election, 450 were unopposed and did not appear on the ballot. There were 10 contested races in which two incumbents were defeated.
Also in 2014, voters had the opportunity to choose whether or not to retain certain justices of the supreme court and the courts of appeal. Such retention elections only occur every four years.
In addition to candidate lists, this page includes information about how the state's judicial elections work, as well as articles about noteworthy news in races across the state.
(I) denotes incumbent
Calaveras County Superior Court, Dept. 1
Calaveras County Superior Court, Dept. 2
Fresno County Superior Court, Office 15
Los Angeles County Superior Court, Office 61
Los Angeles County Superior Court, Office 87
Nevada County Superior Court, Seat 1
Orange County Superior Court, Office 14
San Diego County Superior Court, Office 25
San Francisco County Superior Court, Office 20
Santa Clara County Superior Court, Office 24
Justices of the appellate courts face retention every four years.[2]
Retention
| Judge | Election Vote |
|---|---|
| Kathryn Mickle Werdegar | 72.6% |
| Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar | 67.7% |
| Goodwin Liu | 67.1% |
Justice Werdegar, 78, was retained along with Justice Liu, who was 44 at the time of the election. Liu was appointed in 2011 and won his first full term in 2014.[3][4]
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar was appointed to the court by Governor Jerry Brown in July 2014, and was retained to a full term in November 2014.[5]
Retention
| Judge | Election Vote |
|---|---|
| Anthony Kline | 75.3% |
| Stuart Pollak | 74.5% |
| Martin J. Jenkins | 77.6% |
| Kathleen M. Banke | 78.8% |
| James M. Humes | 75.4% |
| Therese M. Stewart | 77.4% |
| Terence L. Bruiniers | 75.2% |
| Ignazio Ruvolo | 73.9% |
| Mark Simons | 77.9% |
Retention
| Judge | Election Vote |
|---|---|
| Audrey Collins | 71.0% |
| Brian M. Hoffstadt | 67.8% |
| Jeffrey W. Johnson | 75.8% |
| Lee Edmon | 70.6% |
| Nora Manella | 75.3% |
| Paul Turner (California) | |
| Kenneth Yegan | 73.3% |
| Dennis Perluss | 67.9% |
| Laurence Rubin | 70.2% |
| Madeleine Flier | 69.9% |
| Frances Rothschild | 70.7% |
Retention
| Judge | Election Vote |
|---|---|
| Vance Raye | 69.9% |
| Andrea L. Hoch | 70.4% |
| Jonathan Renner | 64.7% |
| William J. Murray, Jr. | 70.7% |
| Louis R. Mauro | 66.3% |
| Elena J. Duarte | 66.4% |
| Ronald Robie | 68.6% |
Retention
| Judge | Election Vote |
|---|---|
| Richard Fybel | 63.9% |
| Richard Aronson | 72.9% |
| Terry O'Rourke | 74.6% |
| Gilbert Nares | 71.4% |
| Kathleen O'Leary | 69.9% |
| James McIntyre | 75.4% |
| William Rylaarsdam | 70.0% |
| David A. Thompson | 75.3% |
| Alex McDonald | 75.3% |
| Thomas Hollenhorst | 73.7% |
Retention
| Judge | Election Vote |
|---|---|
| Rosendo Peña, Jr. | 55.8% |
| Donald R. Franson, Jr. | 68.5% |
| Dennis Cornell | 67.0% |
| Gene Gomes | 60.4% |
| Stephen Kane | 69.8% |
Retention
| Judge | Election Vote |
|---|---|
| Miguel Márquez | 72.0% |
| Adrienne M. Grover | 76.9% |
| Eugene Premo | 73.5% |
| Franklin Elia | 75.1% |
| Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian | 74.2% |
If a superior court judge runs unopposed for re-election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot and he or she is automatically re-elected following the general election.[6]
The following candidates were unopposed in 2014.
Alameda County Superior Court
Alpine County Superior Court
Butte County Superior Court
Contra Costa County Superior Court
Del Norte County Superior Court
El Dorado County Superior Court
Fresno County Superior Court
Kern County Superior Court
Kings County Superior Court
Los Angeles County Superior Court
Madera County Superior Court
Marin County Superior Court
Mendocino County Superior Court
Merced County Superior Court
Monterey County Superior Court
Napa County Superior Court
Placer County Superior Court
Riverside County Superior Court
Sacramento County Superior Court
San Bernardino County Superior Court
San Diego County Superior Court
San Francisco County Superior Court
San Joaquin County Superior Court
San Luis Obispo County Superior Court
San Mateo County Superior Court
Santa Barbara County Superior Court
Santa Clara County Superior Court
Santa Cruz County Superior Court
Shasta County Superior Court
Siskiyou County Superior Court
Solano County Superior Court
Stanislaus County Superior Court
Tuolumne County Superior Court
Ventura County Superior Court
Yolo County Superior Court
Yuba County Superior Court
For candidate lists and results from the judicial primary on June 3, 2014, please see: California judicial primary elections, 2014.
Justices of the California Supreme Court and California Courts of Appeal must run for retention in the first gubernatorial election after they are appointed and then every 12 years, when their terms expire, in November. In these elections, justices do not compete against another candidate. Instead, voters are given a "yes" or "no" choice as to whether to keep the justice in office for another term. The justice must receive a majority of "yes" votes to remain in office. If a justice is not retained, the governor appoints a replacement who must run for retention in the next gubernatorial election following their appointment.[7][2]
Justices are typically retained. Since the state started its system of retention elections in 1934, the only year that any supreme court justice was not retained was 1986. That year, three justices were ousted from the bench due to ruling against the death penalty.[8][9] In 2010, all of the justices who faced retention were retained. Supreme court justices were retained by an average of 66.8% of votes, while justices of the intermediate appellate courts were retained by an average of 71.0% of the votes.
See: California judicial elections for more details.
Superior court judges run in nonpartisan elections and participate in primaries. They must run for re-election every six years, if they wish to continue serving on the court. (Appointed judges are required to run once the term they were appointed to fill expires.)
When running for re-election, a sitting judge may face one or more opponents. Write-in candidates may also file to run against an incumbent within 10 days after the filing deadline passes, if they are able to secure enough signatures, generally between 100 and 600, depending on the number of registered voters in the county. In both cases, the incumbent's name appears on the general election ballot along with an option to vote for a write-in candidate.[6] If one candidate receives over 50% of the votes in the primary, he or she wins the seat without having to run in the general election. If no candidate receives over 50% of the primary votes, the top two vote-getters, for a single seat in the primary, advance to the general election.[10]
If a superior court judge runs unopposed for re-election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot in either the primary or general election, and the judge is automatically re-elected following the general election.[6]
The fees for filing declarations of candidacy, as of 2014:
In lieu of paying this filing fee, candidates may submit signatures. The number of signatures that must be submitted vary by court and county.
The following articles were current as of the dates listed.
Races open for California judiciary seatsOctober 16, 2014 | Click for story→ |
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| See: JP Election Brief: Gold Rush! Racing to the California judiciary | |
Recount expected in LA County Superior Court raceJune 5, 2014 | Click for story→ |
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| Deputy district attorney Carol Najera defeated incumbent James B. Pierce by a fraction of a percent in the primary for the Los Angeles County Superior Court.[14]
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Five candidates run in Nevada County raceMay 29, 2014 | Click for story→ |
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| See also: JP Election Brief: Primary season in high gear--what you may have missed and upcoming races to watch
Five candidates are running for a seat on the Nevada County Superior Court. It was one of the state's most-populated judicial contests in 2014, tied with a race for the Fresno County Superior Court.[17]
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California candidate speaks against removal of her billboardsMay 15, 2014 | Click for story→ | ||||||
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| See also: JP Election Brief: Candidate attacks
Carla Keehn ran against incumbent Lisa Schall for election to the San Diego County Superior Court. The federal prosecutor paid $14,000 to place ads on billboards owned by Clear Channel for 30 days, in advance of the election. According to an article on the website for public broadcasting station KPBS, the billboards said:
The language in Keehn's ad referenced Schall's October 2007 DUI charge. Schall later entered a plea to a lesser charge of reckless driving. The California Commission on Judicial Performance publicly admonished Schall following her plea. The commission previously issued private admonishments of Schall for her behavior on the bench in 1995 and 1999.[21] Despite these past issues, for the 2014 judicial elections, the San Diego County Bar Association rated Schall as "well-qualified." Keehn was rated as "qualified."[22]
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Superior court seat open in Fresno CountyApril 10, 2014 | Click for story→ | ||||||
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| See also: JP Election Brief: The "E" word in judicial elections: Ethics
Robert H. Oliver served as a judge on the Superior Court of Fresno County from 1998 until his retirement in January 2015. The January opening on the court attracted five candidates.[24]
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Meet the Yolo County Superior Court candidatesApril 10, 2014 | Click for story→ |
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| See also: JP Election Brief: The "E" word in judicial elections: Ethics
Four candidatesran for the Department 3 seat on the Yolo County Superior Court in June, the only contested race in the county in 2014. The four candidates vied to replace Judge Stephen L. Mock, who retired in January 2015. The Daily Democrat recently provided background information on each of the candidates. Snapshots of each person are provided below.[31][32]
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Incumbent not endorsed by Santa Clara County Bar AssociationMarch 27, 2014 | Click for story→ | ||||||||||||||||
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| See also: JP Election Brief: Women successful in judicial races as incumbents face challengers
Judge Diane Ritchie faced election competition for her seat on the Superior Court of Santa Clara County in 2014. The Santa Clara County Bar Association announced on March 24 their endorsement for one of her challengers, Matt Harris. This was the result of an internal poll by the association in which attorneys were asked to rate the judicial candidates up for office this year.[33]
Harris, before winning the 2014 election, served as a deputy district attorney. Angel at the time of the election worked as a defense attorney in private practice.[34] They are the first candidates since 1998 to challenge a sitting judge in Santa Clara County. That year, the incumbent won.[33]
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<ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named appellate
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Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California
State courts:
California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts
State resources:
Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California