Fresno County voters will have the rare opportunity to vote on several open judicial seats in the June primary.
With last Wednesday’s filing deadline in the rear-view mirror, seven current Fresno County judges did not file to run for reelection.
On the way out: Judges Gregory Fain, Jonathan Conklin, Tyler Tharpe, David Gottlieb, Elizabeth Egan, John Vogt and Kimberly Nystrom-Geist are all retiring from the Fresno County Superior Court.
They did not pay the filing fee or submit signatures in lieu of the fee to Fresno County, meaning they are not running.
Who’s running: So far four of the seats with retiring judges have multiple candidates.
Rosalina Nunez and Marc Kapetan are running for Fain’s seat. Nunez runs her own law firm. Kapetan is a Fresno defense and accident attorney and runs the Kapetan Brothers law firm with his brother Peter Kapetan. He is also the brother of retired Fresno County judge Jon Kapetan. Katherine Fogarty pulled papers to run but has yet to pay filing fees. Fogarty is a commissioner in the Fresno County Superior Court.
Two candidates have lined up for Conklin’s seat: Ashley Paulson and Deidre Adams. Paulson is a Chief Assistant City Attorney for the Fresno City Attorney’s Office and previously worked for the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office. Adams works for the Fresno County Public Defender’s Office.
The two candidates who have filed for Egan’s seat are Noelle Pebet and Eddie Ruiz. Pebet is a commissioner with the Fresno County Superior Court, and Ruiz is defense and injury lawyer who also serves on the Washington Union School District Board of Trustees.
The final seat that multiple candidates are running for belongs to Vogt. Miles Harris and Jennifer Smith have both filed to run. Harris is a defense and family law attorney, and Smith is a prosecutor in the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.
The three other retiring judges each have one candidates who have filed for their seats so far.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Hammerschmidt is running for Tharpe’s seat. Commissioners Daniel Brickey and Jennifer Hamilton are running for Gottlieb’s and Nystrom-Geist’s seats, respectively.
Running unopposed: There are also 11 incumbent judges who are running unopposed: Monica Diaz, Houry Sanderson, Melissa Baloian, Cabriel Brickey, Amy Guerra, Lisa Gamoian, Jeffrey Hamilton, James Kelley, Raj Badesha, Mary Vasquez and Maria Diaz.
What we’re watching: Potential candidates who are interested in running for a seat of an incumbent who is not running have until Monday to file.