Paul Crisalli

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Paul Crisalli

Nonpartisan

King County Superior Court Department 41

Tenure

Present officeholder

Term ends

2029

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Willamette University

Law

University of Oregon, 2008

Personal

Profession

Judge

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Paul Crisalli is a judge for Department 41 of the King County Superior Court in Washington. His current term ends on January 9, 2029.

Crisalli ran for re-election for the Department 41 judge of the King County Superior Court in Washington. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Crisalli completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

He was appointed to the court September of 2023 by Washington Governor Jay Inslee (D) to replace retired Judge Matthew Williams.

Biography

Paul Crisalli earned a bachelor's degree from Willamette University. He earned a law degree from the University of Oregon in 2008. His career experience includes working as a judge.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in King County, Washington (2024)

General election

General election for King County Superior Court Department 41

Incumbent Paul Crisalli defeated Andrew Schach in the general election for King County Superior Court Department 41 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Paul Crisalli (Nonpartisan)	73.4	658,950
		Andrew Schach (Nonpartisan)	25.8	231,765
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	6,644

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 897,359
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Paul Crisalli and Andrew Schach advanced from the primary for King County Superior Court Department 41.

Endorsements

Crisalli received the following endorsements.

• King County Democrats

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Paul Crisalli completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Crisalli's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

For over a year, I have been a superior court judge, presiding over a variety of cases, including murder, sexual and violent assault trials, property and other civil matters, and dissolutions. I handle civil protection orders, probate matters, and other matters. Before that, I worked for the Attorney General’s Office on complex worker safety cases, campaign finance enforcement cases, cases against the former federal executive administration involving immigration, reproductive health care, and public education funding. I defended the constitutionality of Washington’s Reproductive Parity Act and sued companies that caused wildfires in Washington. Over the last 16 years, I have argued and managed cases in King County Superior Court, cases in superior courts around our State, cases in appellate courts around the State, and federal cases involving Washington. I clerked for Washington State Supreme Court Justice Mary Fairhurst and at the Court of Appeals.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I became a judge to protect and defend the rule of law, to help our community resolve the difficult and important issues brought to our courts, and to bring humanity to the bench.
• Over the last 16 years, I have extensive experience litigating in King County Superior Court as well as in courts around the State. As an Assistant Attorney General, I litigated complex worker safety cases, campaign finance enforcement matters, cases against the former federal executive administration (involving protecting Washingtonians' immigration rights, health care rights, and public education funding), defending Washington's Reproductive Parity Act, and recouping the costs from companies that caused wildfires. As a judge, I preside over all sorts of criminal cases, civil cases, dissolutions, protection orders, and probates, to name a few.
• I am the only candidate endorsed by every Justice on the State Supreme Court, every available Judge on the State Court of Appeals (Divisions I, II, and III), and every judge (54) on King County Superior Court, as well as retired Justices, Judges, and lawyers.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I became a judge to protect and defend the rule of law. I want to make sure our courts are fulfilling their responsibility to the public to be open, impartial, and efficiently deciding the cases brought by our community.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I am fortunate to have worked for five judicial officers early in my career. I externed for Justice Paul J. DeMuniz of the Oregon Supreme Court, Justice Mary E. Fairhurst of the Washington Supreme Court, and Judge Joel Penoyar and Commissioners Aurora Bearse and Eric Schmidt of Division II of the Court of Appeals.

All of them instilled in me the importance of hard work, excellent research and writing, and careful thought. More than that, they all demonstrated joy in the law. I try to show joy, even in hard, difficult cases.

How would you describe your legal philosophy?

A judge must be neutral, fair, and impartial. They must work hard to understand the facts and the law. They must think through the dispute to understand the legal principles involved. They must then issue a decision that the parties understand and that shows that the judge listened to and understood the issues involved in the case. Even if a party does not agree with the decision, they must be left knowing that the judge considered their position and explained why they resolved the issue in the way that they did.

Have you ever been rated by a Bar Association? If so, what was the rating?

I have been rated Exceptionally Well-Qualified by the Latino/a Bar Association. I have been rated Well-Qualified by the King County Bar Association, QLAW, the Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee, and the Cardozo Society.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

King County Democrats, All 17 Legislative District Democrat Organizations in King County, Attorney General Bob Ferguson, and Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti

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.

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Candidate

King County Superior Court Department 41

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Footnotes

Washington courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Washington, Western District of Washington

State courts:

Washington Supreme Court • Washington Court of Appeals • Washington Superior Court • Washington District Courts • Washington Municipal Courts

State resources:

Courts in Washington • Washington judicial elections • Judicial selection in Washington