California judicial elections, 2010

Judicial Elections
Elections, 2010
Primary election dates, 2010
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The California judicial elections of 2010 consisted of a Nonpartisan Election on November 2, 2010, and countywide primaries on June 8 for contested Superior Court judgeships. In these primaries, any candidate who received over 50% of the vote proceeded uncontested to the November general election; if no candidate received over 50% of the vote, the top two vote-winners competed in the general election. In California, only Superior Court judges are elected. Supreme Court and Court of Appeal justices are nominated by the Governor, confirmed by the California Commission on Judicial Appointments, and then must be retained by the voters in the next general election, and once again every twelve years, if they are to remain on the bench. Superior Court judges serve six-year terms; Supreme Court and Court of Appeal justices serve 12-year terms.^[1]

Overview

Three Supreme Court and 35 Courts of Appeal justices were up for retention in 2010, and 399 Superior Court judges were up for re-election. Of these 399 seats, only 38 were contested in the June 8 primary, and only nine were be contested in the November 2 general election.

Supreme Court

After appointment, California Supreme Court justices are elected via retention election for a 12 year term at the next general election. Chief Justice Ronald George retired at the end of his present term and did not seek retention in November. In anticipation of his retirement, Tani Cantil-Sakauye was appointed to the Chief Justiceship, and was retained this November. She will assume the seat George will be vacating in January 2011, when his current term ends.^[2] Justices Ming Chin and Carlos Moreno sought retention in the November 2, 2010 general election.

In 2010, three justices' 12 year terms were ending:^[3]

• Tani Cantil-Sakauye : Retained with 67.1% of the vote.
• Ming Chin: Retained with 65.5% of the vote.
• Carlos Moreno: Retained with 67.8% of the vote.^[4]

Courts of Appeal

35 California Courts of Appeal justices were up for a retention election in 2010.^[3]

^[4]

Superior Courts

Because of the large number of California Superior Court terms ending this year, the counties have been split into two pages. Please visit the pages linked to below to learn more about all the incumbent judges with terms ending this year. 399 Superior Court judge-ships throughout the state of California had terms expire in 2010; only 38 of these 399 seats were contested in the June 8 primary, and only nine seats were contested in the November 2 general election. The following table lists those races which were be contested. Those 361 incumbents who were unchallenged in the primary did not need to participate in a runoff election, and could have only lost their seats to write-in campaigns. Moreover, California Elections Code § 8203 dictates that no Superior Court judge who was unopposed in the primary will have his or her name placed on the November ballot unless a petition signed by 100 voters qualified to vote for or against that judge be submitted "not less than 83 days before the general election," which, in this election cycle, was August 11.^[5][6] Further, the Elections Code requires that, for a write-in vote to be counted, the person for whom the vote is cast must have filed a statement of candidacy between 14 and 57 days prior to the election. This year these dates fell on Monday, September 6, and Tuesday, October 19.^[5][7]

• See also: California Superior Court judicial elections, 2010 (A-R)

• See also: California Superior Court judicial elections, 2010 (S-Y)

November 2 general results

June 8 primary results

• For a complete list, visit: Unofficial primary election results: California

See also

• Judicial elections, 2010
• Judicial selection in California

External links

• California 2010 elections dates
• Filing deadlines
• American Judicature Society, "Judicial Selection in the States: California; Overview," archived January 11, 2014
• Los Angeles County Bar Association judicial candidate ratings
• Bay Area Reporter "Political Notebook: Judicial candidates tout their resumes," May 13, 2010
• LA Times endorsements for Los Angeles County Superior Court
• Metropolitan News-Enterprise "Two Judicial Candidates Express Dissatisfaction With LACBA Evaluation," April 29, 2010

Footnotes

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