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California judicial elections summary, 2014
| 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
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| Judicial Elections |
|---|
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| Judicial elections, 2014 |
| Judicial election dates |
| Candidates by state |
| Supreme court elections |
Judicial elections in California use a combination of retention and nonpartisan elections. Judges of the California Supreme Court and the California Courts of Appeal run for retention, while judges of the superior courts run in nonpartisan elections.
Justices Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, and Goodwin Liu were retained to the state supreme court.
All 47 courts of appeal judges on the ballot were retained by voters. Judge Rosendo Peña, Jr. received the lowest "yes" vote percentage at 55.2%, while Judge Kathleen M. Banke earned the highest approval margin, with 78.5% voting to retain her.
Of the 470 superior court judges who sought re-election in 2014's general election, 450 were unopposed and did not appear on the ballot. There were 10 contested races in which two incumbents were defeated. In addition, one incumbent was defeated in June's primary election.
For general election results, see: California judicial elections, 2014.
For primary election results, see: California judicial primary elections, 2014.
Interesting races
- Both superior court judges who faced contested races in the general election were defeated.
- Judge Hugh K. Swift of the Superior Court of Calaveras County, who had been on the court for less than a year, was defeated by San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Tim Healy.
- Judge Diane Ritchie was unseated by a challenger in her bid to retain her position on the Superior Court of Santa Clara County. In early October 2014, Judge Ritchie publicly stated that she would no longer actively campaign for re-election to the court, nor give any more money to her campaign.[1]
- Close race for the Superior Court of Fresno County: Lisa M. Gamoian beat Rachel Hill, 51.1% to 48.5%. At the time of the election, Gamoian served as the chief of homicide in the Fresno County District Attorney’s office, while Hill was an adjunct professor of law at San Joaquin College of Law.
- Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, who was appointed to the California Supreme Court in July of 2014, was retained with 67% of "yes" votes.
List of defeated incumbents
| Name | Court |
|---|---|
| Diane Ritchie | Santa Clara County Superior Court - Office 24 |
| Hugh K. Swift | Calaveras County Superior Court - Dept. 2 |
| James B. Pierce | Los Angeles County Superior Court - Office 117 |
See also
- California judicial elections, 2014
- California elections
- Portal:Judicial elections
- Judicial selection in California
- California
External links
Footnotes
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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
