Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Craig Mitchell
Craig Mitchell was a judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in California. He assumed office in 2005. He left office on January 6, 2025.
Mitchell ran for election for Los Angeles County District Attorney in California. He lost in the primary on March 5, 2024.
Mitchell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Craig Mitchell was born in California. Mitchell received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1978 and his J.D. from Southwestern Law School.[1] His career experience includes working as a judge, high school teacher, and prosecutor. Mitchell has been affiliated with the Skid Row Running Club.[2]
Career
- 2005-2025: Judge, Superior Court of Los Angeles County
- 1994-2005: Deputy district attorney, Los Angeles District Attorney's Office
- 1992-1994: Attorney in private practice
- 1992-1994: Teacher, Los Angeles law magnet school
- 1978-1994: High school teacher, Los Angeles Unified School district and Catholic Arch Diocese of Los Angeles[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Municipal elections in Los Angeles County, California (2024)
General election
General election for Los Angeles County District Attorney
Nathan Hochman defeated incumbent George Gascón in the general election for Los Angeles County District Attorney on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nathan Hochman (Nonpartisan)  | 59.9 | 1,983,802 |
 | George Gascón (Nonpartisan) | 40.1 | 1,328,710 | |
| Total votes: 3,312,512 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Los Angeles County District Attorney
The following candidates ran in the primary for Los Angeles County District Attorney on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | George Gascón (Nonpartisan) | 25.2 | 370,654 |
| ✔ | | Nathan Hochman (Nonpartisan) | 15.9 | 234,509 |
 | Jonathan Hatami (Nonpartisan) | 13.2 | 194,755 | |
 | Debra Archuleta (Nonpartisan) | 8.5 | 125,306 | |
 | Jeff Chemerinsky (Nonpartisan) | 7.9 | 116,064 | |
| Maria Ramirez (Nonpartisan) | 7.1 | 105,088 | ||
 | John McKinney (Nonpartisan) | 6.0 | 87,903 | |
 | Eric Siddall (Nonpartisan) | 5.6 | 82,993 | |
 | David Sherman Milton (Nonpartisan) | 4.3 | 63,044 | |
| Craig Mitchell (Nonpartisan) | 3.0 | 44,326 | ||
 | Lloyd Masson (Nonpartisan) | 2.0 | 29,306 | |
 | Daniel Kapelovitz (Nonpartisan) | 1.2 | 17,622 | |
| Total votes: 1,471,570 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Mitchell in this election.
2018
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Craig Mitchell (Nonpartisan) won the election without appearing on the ballot.
Selection method
- See also: Nonpartisan election
The 1,535 judges of the California Superior Courts compete in nonpartisan races in even-numbered years. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the June primary election, he or she is declared the winner; if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates is held during the November general election.[3][4][5][6]
If an incumbent judge is running unopposed in an election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot. The judge is automatically re-elected following the general election.[3]
The chief judge of any given superior court is selected by peer vote of the court's members. He or she serves in that capacity for one or two years, depending on the county.[3]
Qualifications
Candidates are required to have 10 years of experience as a law practitioner or as a judge of a court of record.[3]
2012
Mitchell ran for re-election to the superior court in 2012. As an unopposed incumbent, his name did not appear on the ballot. After the primary election, Mitchell was automatically re-elected.[7]
- See also: California judicial elections, 2012
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Craig Mitchell completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Mitchell's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- Public safety is my highest priority. Dangerous and violent perpetrators of crime must be removed from the community. Criminals whose criminality is rooted in addiction and mental illness, provided the community is not endangered, must receive effective treatment.
- Sanctions for criminal conduct must be imposed after a careful review of the facts that gave rise to a case, the characteristics of the perpetrator, and the impact the crime had upon the victim. No two crimes are identical. No two perpetrators are identical. Repeat offenders obviously need to be treated differently than those with no criminal history.
- Addiction and mental illness must be addressed. These conditions are at the root of most5 property crimes and many crimes of violence. These conditions also account for the high recidivism rates that exist. I will work tirelessly to ensure that effective programs and monitoring take place to break the cycle of criminality.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chinese American Political Association, "Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Three to the Los Angeles County Superior Court," April 14, 2005
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on January 31, 2024
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: California," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
- ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8203," accessed May 21, 2014
- ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8140-8150," accessed May 21, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder, Presidential Primary Election 6/5/2012
| |||||
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
