{"id":261875,"date":"2026-04-11T00:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T00:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/261875\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T00:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T00:05:12","slug":"orange-county-superior-court-judges-whos-running-in-the-june-2-primary-and-why-it-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/261875\/","title":{"rendered":"Orange County Superior Court Judges: Who’s running in the June 2 primary and why it matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s at stake in this race<\/p>\n

Two Orange County judgeships are up for election June 2 and choosing for whom to vote is one of the hardest jobs facing voters. Here, we offer you a guide on how to do just that \u2014 and a look at the candidates on the ballot in Orange County.<\/p>\n

What does an Orange County Superior Court judge do?<\/p>\n

Superior Court judges oversee courtroom proceedings and trials across all of Orange County. There are more than 100 judges in the court system. These trials cover everything having to do with state and local laws, including family law (such as child custody and divorces), landlord and tenant cases, contract disputes, thefts, felony murder, probate (distributing a person\u2019s possessions after death) and small claims.<\/p>\n

Follow the vote after polls close<\/p>\n

Insights straight from our newsroom. Our limited-run newsletter Make It Make Sense will unpack the ballot count and results, then check in regularly on the officials voted into office and measures passed by voters.<\/p>\n

A judge\u2019s job is to act as court referee:<\/p>\n

making sure all sides are abiding by the proper ruleshearing argumentshanding down rulings based on the evidence and their interpretation of the law<\/p>\n

If the law is clear on a given issue, judges must stick to it regardless of how they personally feel. In other cases, laws may be ambiguous, and that\u2019s when a judge has to issue their own interpretation of the law. Judges also have a fair amount of discretion when it comes to handing down penalties, such as the length of a sentence for a criminal conviction or the payment sum for a civil case. That’s where it really starts to matter who is in the seat.<\/p>\n

You might know O.C. Superior Court judges from:<\/p>\n

Your traffic ticket dispute. Or your child custody case. Or that time you served on a jury. If you\u2019ve never had to interact with the court system, you\u2019ve definitely heard of a case the O.C. Superior Court has handled: think of the O.C. snitch scandal<\/a>, Angels pitcher Tyler Skagg’s wrongful-death trial<\/a> or the state\u2019s lawsuit against Huntington Beach over voter ID<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why do we vote for judges?<\/p>\n

This is because of California law. Superior Court judges get the job either through governor appointment or winning an election. They serve six-year terms, but they don\u2019t always have to face reelection when that time is up.<\/p>\n

A seat only appears on your ballot if it has at least two challengers at the end of a judge\u2019s term. Judges who file reelection paperwork but go unchallenged never appear on the ballot at all \u2014 they automatically get another term. In general, we usually only have a handful of judges to choose in each election.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not totally comfortable with the idea of electing judges, you\u2019re not alone. While some states select judges differently<\/a>, California\u2019s done it this way for a long time<\/a>. Proposals to stop electing judges here haven\u2019t succeeded.<\/p>\n

Lots of people have<\/a> questioned<\/a> whether it\u2019s a good idea to elect our judiciary \u2014 does it cause judges to worry more about being popular instead of making the right decisions in cases? Some critics also point to L.A. County\u2019s 2006 judicial elections, in which a well-respected sitting judge who had served on the court for over 20 years unexpectedly lost her seat to a bagel shop owner<\/a> with much less legal experience who spent way more money on campaign advertising.<\/p>\n

How can I better understand the role of judges?\u00a0<\/p>\n

It depends on how much time you want to commit. You can:<\/p>\n

Attend public courtroom proceedings: Cases that interest you can be found on the courthouse\u2019s calendar<\/a>. If you\u2019re interested in a particular judge, you can find their department and assignment here<\/a>. Make sure you\u2019re dressed appropriately and follow the rules for that courthouse<\/a>.Join a public service program: You can volunteer for the Grand Jury<\/a>, which examines local governmental agencies and investigates citizen complaints. There\u2019s also court-appointed special advocates<\/a> for kids in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, who are trained volunteers selected by judges.Help watchdog local judges: Stay aware of the California Commission on Judicial Performance’s public discipline decisions.Meet judicial officers outside the courtroom: Instead of volunteering, it’s the other way around. Court employees do community outreach such as showing to the Orange County Fair. Judges also meet with classrooms.<\/p>\n

If you have a case, you can see what other people think of your assigned judge. The Robing Room<\/a> is like Yelp reviews for the court system \u2014 but take them with a grain of salt. Some Superior Court judges have few reviews, if any. Also, since anyone can post, many of the ratings aren\u2019t considered fair as a formal evaluation.<\/p>\n

What should I consider in a candidate?<\/p>\n

Evaluating judicial candidates is notoriously hard. This is really not an easy task for the average voter. Since many candidates are wary of politicizing judgeships, they don\u2019t spend a lot of money on campaign advertising, which makes it hard to find out who they are or what they stand for. Plus, these are nonpartisan seats, so you don\u2019t have the option of just voting for candidates who identify as a member of the party with whom you\u2019re registered.<\/p>\n

But there are a few pieces of information you can look at to help with your decision. Stuart Rice, a retired L.A. County Superior Court judge and a past president of the California Judges Association, shared his tips with LAist here:<\/p>\n

Look at the Orange County Bar Association’s ratings: This is the main professional association for Orange County\u2019s legal community. During every election, OCBA evaluates judicial candidates<\/a>. (LAist has reached out to OCBA’s designated media contact for more insight without a response. When the ratings are released, we will update this story to include them in our guide to the judicial offices on the ballot below.) The ratings are one of the only ways for a voter without a legal background to assess whether a candidate is qualified for the bench.<\/p>\n

The committee gives candidates one of four ratings<\/a>: exceptionally well qualified, well qualified, qualified or not qualified.<\/p>\n

The ratings can be a useful way to evaluate a candidate because they\u2019re supposed to take temperament and personality into account in addition to legal ability. That ties in to what Rice said is most important for a candidate to have: proper judicial demeanor.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, it means you treat everybody the same. You treat everybody with respect. You treat everybody with dignity. You\u2019re impartial,\u201d he said. \u201cYou set a tone in that courtroom so that the litigants don\u2019t feel like they\u2019re in an environment where they can be yelling at each other in the courtroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep in mind, these ratings are the opinion of a private, volunteer membership group unaffiliated with the state bar. Other groups may find candidates more or less qualified.<\/p>\n

Check out endorsements: These are nonpartisan seats, but you\u2019ll still see endorsements from newspapers, politicians and issue-based organizations, just like any political contest. If there\u2019s an organization you trust, their endorsement might tip the scales for you.<\/p>\n

The role of political parties in society is so strong that you may notice political party endorsements. According to Rice, that\u2019s because the courts have become more political in recent elections. Take L.A., for example.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aThe candidates, despite this being a non-partisan race, really want to get the endorsement of the Democratic Party,\u201d Rice said. \u201cThat’s because L.A. is overwhelmingly democratic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consider candidates\u2019 experience: The only requirement for being a judge is to have at least 10 years in one of two paths: being authorized to practice law in California (usually by passing the bar exam) or serving as a judge in the state. That means you might find a wide range of legal experience among candidates. If they were a judge before or have significant trial experience, that\u2019s a big clue as to how prepared they may be for the job on Day 1. Having a history as a prosecutor or defense attorney can also tell you they\u2019ve had a lot of experience in court and give you an idea of their potential approach to criminal justice issues.<\/p>\n

Here are some common job titles you may see on the ballot and what they mean:<\/p>\n

Superior Court commissioner: Someone hired by court judges to do lower-level judicial work, such as traffic violation hearings or small claims. \u201cOnce chosen as a commissioner, you are already doing the job as a judge,\u201d said Rice, who started his career as a Superior Court commissioner.Administrative law judge: In California, these are lawyers hired by the state to be independent decision-makers for a particular agency in administrative and regulatory disputes.Deputy district attorney: A prosecutor who works for the county District Attorney\u2019s Office, representing the government in felony and misdemeanor cases.Public defender: A defense attorney employed by the government to represent defendants accused of crimes who can\u2019t afford private lawyers.Deputy county counsel: An attorney who works for the County Counsel\u2019s Office, giving legal advice to different departments and representing the county in various litigation issues.Deputy city attorney: An attorney who handles lawsuits on behalf of a city government. In places like Orange County, deputy city attorneys also act as prosecutors for misdemeanors.Attorney, attorney at law, counselor at law or lawyer: These are general titles used to describe anyone authorized to practice law, whether they\u2019re a law professor, private defense attorney, in-house counsel at a company or someone who\u2019s passed the bar exam but isn\u2019t actually working as a lawyer.<\/p>\n

Look at a candidate\u2019s website: Campaign websites can give you more detailed information about a candidate\u2019s background, mission and experience. Someone serious about their campaign will have a website, Rice said. Pay attention to how sophisticated it is and what they choose to say about themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aThey may say, ‘Vote for me. I\u2019m the one that\u2019s gonna change the world,’\u201d Rice said. \u201cWell, judges are supposed to interpret the law, not make the law. There are a variety of things that might impress one voter and turn off a different voter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Candidates could also express viewpoints there that they shouldn\u2019t. Anyone running for a judicial seat is bound by California ethics code<\/a>. Among the restrictions, candidates need to avoid creating an appearance of political bias or implying how they would rule on an issue that could come before the court.<\/p>\n

More reading<\/p>\n

What it takes to win:<\/p>\n

This year, each of these races has just two candidates. That means the winner will be decided in the June primary by whoever gets more than 50% of the vote.<\/p>\n

The candidates<\/p>\n

About our guides: When information is missing<\/p>\n

Some candidates did not reply to our requests for images. Some do not have a campaign website and\/or list of endorsements available online at the time of publication. We will update this guide as more candidate information becomes available.<\/p>\n

Orange County has four candidates vying for two seats. It can be difficult to learn about sitting judges, so we’ve included links to their profile on Trellis Law, a legal research website, and information showing how they reached the bench. For attorneys, we\u2019ve included their state Bar profiles.<\/p>\n

LAist also contacted candidates with an opportunity to complete a judicial election survey. We\u2019ve included their responses below. Responses were limited to 800 characters.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

At left, candidate Ann Cho. <\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the campaign<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

Office No. 13<\/p>\n

Ann Cho, senior deputy district attorney, County of Orange<\/p>\n

Robert Mestman, senior deputy district attorney, County of Orange<\/p>\n

\"visualization\"\/<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

From left, candidates Charles E. Pell and Ami S. Sagel<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the campaigns<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

Office No. 41<\/p>\n

Charles E. Pell, No ballot designation<\/p>\n

Ami S. Sagel, Judge of the Superior Court<\/p>\n

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