The Washington judicial elections consisted of a primary on August 7 and a general election on November 6, 2012.[1]
The filing deadline was May 18, 2012.
Superior Courts
| Candidate | Incumbency | Office | Primary Vote | Election Vote |
|---|
AceyWilliam D. Acey  A | Yes | Seat 1 | 100%A | 100% A |
| Candidate | Incumbency | Office | Primary Vote | Election Vote |
|---|
| HotchkissJohn Hotchkiss A | Yes | Position 1 | 100%A | 100% A |
| Candidate | Incumbency | Office | Primary Vote | Election Vote |
|---|
| AltmanBrian Altman A | Yes | Position 1 | 100%A | 100% A |
| Candidate | Incumbency | Office | Primary Vote | Election Vote |
|---|
| StrohmaierJohn F. Strohmaier A | Yes | Position 1 | 100%A | 100% A |
| Candidate | Incumbency | Office | Primary Vote | Election Vote |
|---|
| EatonDonald Eaton A | Yes | Position 1 | 100%A | 100% A |
| Candidate | Incumbency | Office | Primary Vote | Election Vote |
|---|
| FollisJack Follis | No | Position 11 | 47.03% | |
| JudgeMillie Judge A | No | Position 11 | 52.97%A | A |
| Candidate | Incumbency | Office | Primary Vote | Election Vote |
|---|
| FrazierDavid Frazier A | Yes | Position 1 | 100%A | 100% A |
Appellate Courts
For information on the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals elections, visit: Washington judicial elections, 2012.
District Courts
For information on the Circuit Court elections, visit: Washington judicial elections, 2012 - District Courts.
In the News
Washington election recap, 2012
We saw new judges elected across the board in Washington this year. On the Supreme Court, public defender Sheryl McCloud was elected to Position 9, defeating opponent Richard Sanders. On the Court of Appeals, former Assistant Attorney General Thomas Bjorgen was elected to District 2 after defeating Pamela Loginsky. In the state's trial court races there were 19 new judges elected.
There were only three Washington incumbents ousted this year. The first two were John P. Wulle of the Clark Superior Court and Beverly G. Grant of the Pierce County Superior Court. Both of these incumbents were eliminated in the primary election on August 7th. The third incumbent to be defeated was King County Superior Court Judge Christopher A. Washington, who was ousted in the November 6th general election by Sue Parisien who won the heated race by only one percentage point.
King County candidates rated
As featured in JP Election Brief: Ready for the next round of primaries on July 26, 2012.
In Washington, the King County Bar Association (KCBA) has published ratings of all the candidates competing in the county’s upcoming judicial election. However, those ratings—and the confidential process that produces them—may be raising as many questions as they answer.[2]
In one race for a position on the King County Superior Court, deputy prosecutor Sean O’Donnell is running against Hong Tran, an immigrant from Vietnam who has represented indigent clients for 17 years and who works for the Defenders Association. The KCBA initially gave Tran a rating of "not qualified," while finding O'Donnell "well qualified." However, following written objection by two state appellate court judges, Tran's rating has been changed to "Previous rating suspended pending reconsideration."[3] Tran, who was only asked three questions by the rating panel in her interview, is not yet aware of what this "reconsideration" will entail.[2]
In another King County Superior Court race, Seattle lawyer and judicial candidate Elizabeth Berns has been rated "not qualified" by the KCBA, in spite of her endorsement by several judges, including two retired Washington Supreme Court justices. She has spent three years as a judge pro tempore in the King County District Court and has practiced law for 19 years. Berns reports that the committee was "hostile" and repeatedly cut her off, and that when she received her rating and asked for an explanation, the committee responded with an email that began, "Dear Ms. Allen." Former state Supreme Court Justice Faith Ireland has stated that she is "dumbfounded" as to how Berns was given a rating of "not qualified," and is "left with the impression that something is seriously broken in the KCBA judicial evaluation process."[4]
Typically, judicial candidates are given one of four ratings by the KCBA: not qualified, qualified, well qualified, or exceptionally well qualified. These ratings are "designed to be given without regard to the credentials of a candidate's opponent," and are produced using a review of the candidate's background, reference statements, statements from opposing counsel, and an interview with the candidate. The process used to rate candidates is confidential, in an effort to "encourage forthrightness," and "candidates aren't told why they receive the rating they get." However, the fact that two well-respected female minority judicial candidates have now been declared "not qualified' may "rais[e] questions about the process by which the weighty evaluations are made."[4]
Superior Court judge decides to retire
As featured in JP Election Brief: Focus on the Gulf States and Northwest on May 17, 2012.
Craddock Verser, the Jefferson Superior Court judge in Washington, has announced that he has changed his mind and will not seek re-election to a third term on the bench. Instead, Judge Verser, who was diagnosed with and began receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer in July of last year, will step down at the end of his current term, which finishes at the end of the year.[5]
Verser's announcement that he will not run for re-election comes just ten days after he declared that he intended to seek another term in his current position on the court. On April 28, Verser stated that he was "feeling great" and that his doctors had "given [him] a clean bill of health verbally," leading him to announce his intended candidacy.[6] However, on May 8, he said that he was not "getting the assurances from [his] doctors" that he needed to pursue a campaign, and that he therefore had made the "tough decision" not to run. He expressed concern that further treatment might require him to spend time away from the bench, which would require substitute judges to fill in for him and would cost the county money. He also said he expected that his illness would be an election issue if anyone challenged him for his position.[5]
Judge Verser was originally appointed to his position by Governor Gary Locke to replace Judge Thomas Majhan, who died of cancer while in office in 2002. Verser was elected to new terms in 2004 and 2008.[6] Verser has endorsed Keith Harper, an attorney from Port Townsend, to replace him on the bench. Harper has practiced law since 1980 and has served as part-time city prosecutor, part-time city attorney, judge pro tem, and court commissioner.[5]
See also
- ↑ The Green Papers: Washington 2012 General Election
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Seattle Post-Intelligencer, “A bar fight over judicial candidate ratings?” June 29, 2012
- ↑ King County Bar Association, 2012 Judicial Elections, candidate ratings
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Seattle Times, "King County judicial ratings raise more questions," July 19, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Peninsula Daily News, "Verser changes mind, won’t run for third term as judge," May 8, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Peninsula Daily News, "‘I’m feeling great’: Judge Verser will seek re-election," April 28, 2012
