JP Election Brief: Super PACs, primary results, and judicial selection

June 7, 2012

by: the State Court Staff

Every Thursday, Judgepedia's State Court Staff examines events in the world of judicial elections across the nation. Make sure to use Judgepedia's Election Central the rest of the week as a hub for all your judicial election needs.

Important dates

Primary elections

• June 12: Primary election in Nevada
• June 12: Primary election in North Dakota
• June 26: Primary election in Oklahoma

Filing deadlines

• June 11: Filing deadline in Kansas

Want to know more about Judgepedia's 2012 election coverage?
Check out Judgepedia's Election Central for details!

North Carolina Supreme Court race

A new political action committee is forming to raise funds in support of Justice Newby's retention.

There is only one Supreme Court race in North Carolina this year, but it's an important one. With a current 4-3 balance on the court in favor of conservatives, the race against incumbent Justice Paul Martin Newby (Republican) and challenger Sam Ervin (Democrat) will determine the political party majority. A number of lawsuits have been filed regarding legislation passed by Republicans in the General Assembly. These could find their way to the high court. While judicial candidates are supposed to be nonpartisan, the politics are definitely a factor here.

The N.C. Judicial Coalition, an "independent expenditure committee" or "super PAC," is made up of key conservatives (and one Democrat) and is able to raise unlimited funds in support of Justice Newby. Tom Fetzer, former chairman of the state Republican Party, stated, "Heading into this election, which is largely publicly financed, candidates have a limited ability to get their message out…We’re going to raise as much as we can, have as big an impact as we can."

So far, both candidates have raised about $82,000 and have qualified for additional public financing of $240,100. However, Sam Ervin's campaign manager, Mike Davis, doesn't think this is enough. “It’s kind of ridiculous to run a statewide campaign on that little money. But it’s what we’ve got. We’ve done it before with Judge Ervin four years ago. We’re looking forward to doing it again," he said.

This is shaping up to be an exciting and expensive race.

In the News

Results from the recent primaries

California

In California this year, there were 38 contested races in the primary election, which occurred in 20 counties. In addition, about 450 Superior Court judges were automatically re-elected yesterday, drawing no opposition.

Of the contested races, match-ups in 10 counties brought interesting results. Below we look at those races.

San Diego County hosted the race with the closest results yesterday, from which Gary G. Kreep was elected judge. Kreep won just 50.01% of the vote, which is the minimum amount one can receive and still be elected. That means that Peed won 49.99%, making it the closest race in the state so far this year. No word yet on whether a recount will be called.

In two races, incumbents were defeated by challengers. In Imperial County, Ruth Bermudez Montenegro was defeated by Brooks Anderholt in a close race. In an even closer race, Jennifer Lee Giuliani defeated incumbent Judge George Orndoff, winning 50.1% of the vote in Kings County.

New judges were elected to the Superior Court of Los Angeles, Superior Court of Placer, Superior Court of Santa Clara, and Superior Court of Yuba.

Only four races will proceed to the general election on November 6, 2012. Those are:

Superior Court of Alameda County: Tara M. Flanagan won the most votes in the primary election, but not enough to fend off a challenge from Andrew R. Wiener in the general election.

Superior Court of El Dorado County: Judge Warren C. Stracener faced two opponents yesterday in his first election since being appointed in December 2010. He won 42.3% of the vote in the primary, and will compete against Joseph Hoffman in the general election.

Superior Court of San Diego County: Jim Miller and Robert Amador, both non-incumbents, will face off again in the general election.

Superior Court of Sutter County: Two candidates emerged from a nine-way primary race yesterday to compete in the general election. Either Sarah Heckman or Jud Waggoman will be a new judge in Sutter County next year.

For a complete list of election results, visit:

• California judicial elections, 2012 - Superior Courts (A-P) or
• California judicial elections, 2012 - Superior Courts (R-Y).

New Mexico

The New Mexico primary election took place Tuesday, June 5, and it was a rather small affair.

Five seats faced multiple candidates in Tuesday's partisan election. In two of these five cases, candidates will now run unopposed as their only competition came from their own party in the Democratic or Republican primary. These now unopposed candidates are district court judges Lisa Riley of the Fifth Judicial District Court and Sarah Backus of the Eighth Judicial District Court. One other candidate, Donna Mowrer of the Ninth Judicial District Court, was already running unopposed.

The remainder of the district court races face opposition; these races are in the Second Judicial District, Third Judicial District, Sixth Judicial District, Eighth Judicial District, and Thirteenth Judicial District.

In the higher courts there is one opposed race in the Court of Appeals between incumbent J. Miles Hanisee and challenger M. Monica Zamora, currently a Second Judicial District Court judge.

Judicial selection may be changing in Arizona

The method of judicial selection used in the state of Arizona may significantly change after the election this November. The state's voters will have the chance to vote on Proposition 115, a referendum that would alter the merit-based system that is currently used to select judges for the Arizona Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and trial courts in the state's two largest counties.

Under the current system, known as "merit selection," special screening panels review potential judges for the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and the superior courts in Pima County and Maricopa County. The panels forward their findings on to the governor, who makes a judicial appointment from as few as three finalists. Judges appointed by the governor must run for retention every four years, an election in which voters decide whether a judge should be kept or rejected. When voters reject a judge, which happens extremely rarely, the process starts over again.

If Proposition 115 is passed, the governor will gain more power over who becomes a judge in Arizona. The screening panels will be required to submit no fewer than eight finalists to the governor, greatly increasing the amount of discretion the governor is able to exercise. In addition, the governor will be given more control over who is chosen to sit on the screening panels themselves. Proposition 115 has received mixed reviews. It is supported by the Arizona Judges Association, whose members prefer the modifications to merit selection that would result from this referendum's passage to the alternative proposed by the legislature: a system in which the state Senate must confirm every judge, and must re-confirm sitting judges to their positions every time their term expires. Opponents of the measure have expressed concern that the modifications will reduce the independence of the judiciary by giving the governor more power and increasing the influence of politics in the selection process. According to Judge Mary Schroeder, who formerly served on the state Court of Appeals and who now sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the requirement that at least eight finalists be presented to the governor means that nearly everyone who meets the minimum legal qualifications will make it through the screening process, given the number of applicants such openings usually draw. Schroeder has stated that the proposed change "does away with the concept of merit selection, which [means] you take the most qualified."

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