It’s probably the most opaque election anywhere.
And the most likely to produce the longest-serving and most impactful local elected officials in any community.
Local judges.
Good luck finding out enough information to cast an informed vote for these elected officials who rule over our lower courts.
Our courts are where local government becomes real – where people are held accountable every day on a variety of civil, criminal, political controversies impacting residents across OC.
I count 134 judges listed on the Orange County Superior Court website with about 16 appointed by current and previous governors.
Most work in one of five different branch courts across OC – including Santa Ana, Orange, Fullerton, Newport Beach and Westminster.
This year, about three dozen judges were up for re-election.
Yet all but three automatically won their election because no one contested them and their March primary elections were thus canceled.
Some judges – like former county supervisor Shawn Nelson or former Santa Ana City Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez – are former elected officials.
Many others – like Alvarez or Larry Yellin – are former prosecutors at the local level.
A number of judges – Scott Steiner, Ebrahim Baytieh or Marc Kelly – also have earned controversial headlines in recent years.
Some former prosecutors, like Baytieh, faced ethical questions about their prosecutions. Others, like Steiner, faced ethical questions for conduct while in office. Yet others, like Kelly, drew questions over their legal decisions from the bench.
Last year, OC Superior Court Judge Jeff Ferguson pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the shooting of his wife. Prosecutors say he shot her in the midst of an argument inside their Anaheim Hills home while Ferguson’s attorneys say the shooting was an accident.
So what’s the most curious thing one would most likely ask a judge?
What’s your judicial philosophy? How do you approach the law? Decide cases or issues that may come before you?
Those are all questions most candidates seemingly can’t answer.
If you ask those kinds of questions, candidates often point you to a code of ethics designed to protect the independence and impartiality of our courts along with avoiding any impropriety.
I bumped into this last week just as ballots started going out across OC.
Figuring the three judicial races in OC would be the biggest stumper for most residents, I jumped in my green Jeep and headed to the Elks Lodge in Santa Ana to see if some shoe-leather homework could be useful for voters.
The Conservative Patriots of Orange County hosted a really interesting Q&A session with judicial candidates running for office earlier this month at the Elks Lodge, where I got a chance to meet most candidates up close and hear them take – and avoid – a host of questions from the public.
So Who’s Running?
The four candidates I met at the event – Daniel Kern, Whitney Bokosky, Richard Zimmer, Jason Baez – were all friendly and professional.
I didn’t get a chance to meet two other judicial candidates – Bing Q. Dang and Dan Jacobson – as they were not able to attend the event.
During the event, several highlights stood out to me.
Only one of the candidates running, Daniel Kern, publicly identified a flaw in the local courts system raising questions about how family law matters are handled.
The rest of the candidates that took questions were all deputy district attorneys, primarily stressing their relevant experience as prosecutors who have spent decades in court, have gone after criminals and understand how the court system works.
Yet beyond those generalities, the judges declined to answer many questions about how they view the U.S. Constitution or interpret the law.
One point they all stressed was that it doesn’t matter what they think.
They have to follow the law.
Despite voters’ inability to really understand what kind of judges they are electing, it is possible to learn a bit about judicial candidates before making a choice – or avoiding a vote altogether – in these races.
So what kind of information can a voter review?
Job history.
Half of the candidates seeking election as judges – Whitney Bokosky, Jason Baez and Richard Zimmer – are deputy district attorneys with the majority of their experience in criminal court.
There is one public defender, Bing Dang, who has an 18-year record in LA courts, working out of the LA Public Defender’s office. He said he has engaged in more than 100 jury trials.
Attorney Daniel Kern specializes in family law, something he said the local courts need more judges for to staff relevant courts.
Attorney Dan Jacobson is a longtime civil lawyer and academic who also has experience as a state regulator having worked overseeing reforms and administration in the insurance industry. He has also been an active Democrat, helping fundraise for candidates with the OC Democratic Foundation in a variety of public roles in past years.
Local Bar Association Ratings
Given the lack of information on judicial candidates, it puts a huge importance on the reviews done by local bar associations across California.
Yet because the local bar associations are generally opaque when it comes to the process of vetting judges, it leaves the determination open to concerns of politicization or favor.
The LA Bar Association offers a general breakdown of how their determinations are reached as well as listing the relevant attorneys serving on the subcommittee. I could not find similar details on the Orange County Bar Association website.
Earlier this month, the group released ratings for all the candidates – rating only one as exceptionally well-qualified, two as well qualified and another two as qualified. The panel rated one judicial candidate as not qualified.
While the local bar doesn’t endorse, their ratings do seem to indicate a clear preference in each race – with one candidate rated above the other in each election for offices No. 3, 16 and 35.
Here are the ratings from the OC bar.
Relevant Political Endorsements
Superior Court Office #3
Jason Baez lists a series of endorsements on his website from a host of local elected officials like District Attorney Todd Spitzer and Sheriff Don Barnes. Additionally, he is endorsed by labor organizations like the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs and the Orange County Employees Association.
Dan Jacobson lists a host of endorsements including the retiring judge he is seeking to replace, John Gaspelum, in addition to federal elected leaders like Congressman Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana), state leaders like Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton).
Jacobson also lists a host of endorsements from community leaders like Wylie Aitken, who among many public roles, also chairs the board of directors for Voice of OC.
Superior Court Office #16
Richard Zimmer is also endorsed by Spitzer and Barnes among a host of sitting judges, attorneys and local elected officials.
Zimmer is also endorsed by a variety of labor groups like the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriff’s, a host of city police associations, the Orange County Employees Association and the OC Labor Federation.
Binh Dang lists a host of endorsements from sitting judges in LA along with a number of LA deputy district attorneys.
Superior Court Offices, #35
Whitney Bokosky lists endorsements from Spitzer and Barnes. along with a host of sitting OC judges. She also lists a host of endorsements from labor and community organizations like Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, the Orange County Employees Association, the OC Labor Federation and the Veterans Alliance of Orange County.
Daniel Kern is endorsed by Orange County’s Democratic Party.
Campaign Finance
Reviewing relevant campaign finance information at your local Registrar of Voters office can also offer interesting insights on candidates.
But not much when it comes to judges.
It was hard for me to find any campaign finance filings other than a few independent expenditures on behalf of two candidates.
Binh Dang said in an email statement that he would not accept any campaign contributions for the election.
A PAC dubbed the Reform Local Government PAC, reported spending $1,750 apiece on behalf of Bokosky and Baez.
Following publication of this column, our news staff was able to get a better sense of fundraising for judicial campaigns by reviewing state filings.
[Read: Who Finances Orange County Judge’s Campaigns?]
Campaign Websites
Superior Court Office No. 3
Binh Dang: https://binhdangforjudge.com/about-binh
Jason Baez: https://www.baezforjudge.com
Superior Court Office No. 16
Richard Zimmer: https://zimmer4judge.com
Dan Jacobson: https://jacobsonforjudge.com
Superior Court Office No. 35
Whitney Bokosky: https://bokosky4judge.com
Daniel Kern: https://danieljkernforjudge.org
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