Vote 2018
Nonpartisan Offices: The November 6 Ballot Decisions
The Nonpartisan Offices are in my crosshairs today and I have my hands full. There are the judgeships as well as the Superintendent of Public Instruction, County Assessor, and County Sheriff. That’s a total of twenty-six nonpartisan offices.
My absentee ballot
When I speak of the nonpartisan offices of judgeships, I’m talking the California Supreme Court (2 Associate Justices), Court of Appeal Justice (17), and Superior Court Judges (4). Now, I’m no expert on the Judicial process but is it really a good idea for us non-legal folks with no expertise in law to be electing judges? I mean, do they campaign like other elected officials? The truth is that while they are considered nonpartisan offices, in recent years they’ve taken on the pollical partisanship of controversy. The California Secretary of State describes the selection process this way:
“Under the California Constitution, justices of the Supreme Court and the courts of appeal are subject to confirmation by the voters. The public votes “yes” or “no” on whether to retain each justice.
Before a person can become an appellate justice, the Governor must submit the candidate’s name to the Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission, which is comprised of public members and lawyers. The commission conducts a thorough review of the candidate’s background and qualifications, with community input, and then forwards its evaluation of the candidate to the Governor.
“The Governor then reviews the commission’s evaluation and officially nominates the candidate, whose qualifications are subject to public comment before examination and review by the Commission on Judicial Appointments…The Commission on Judicial Appointments must then confirm or reject the nomination. Only if confirmed does the nominee become a justice.”
Then, it gets more confusing. After the judge is sworn into office, they face voter approval at the next gubernatorial election, and thereafter at the conclusion of each term. The California Constitution sets the terms for the Supreme Court and courts of appeal at 12 years. Wait, here’s the additional confusion,
“Justices are confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments only until the next gubernatorial election, at which time they run for retention of the remainder of the term, if any, of their predecessor, which will be either four or eight years.” As soon as you understand that, get back to me.
The bottom line for me is I have to vote for two Supreme Court Justices, Carol Corrigan and Leondra Kruger, whose terms will expire in January 2019. Both must be retained by voters on November 6 for them to serve for a full twelve-year term.
Ballotpedia.com also break down the races for the nonpartisan offices of Court of Appeal and Judges of The Superior Court.
Nonpartisan Offices: Supreme and Appeal Court
So, where can we get more information on these nonpartisan offices of our Judicial Branch? I spent at least an hour trying to find impartial information on the California Supreme Court Justices for my absentee ballot Carol A. Corrigan and Leondra R. Kruger. I couldn’t and this is worrisome. There is any number of very partisan sites but that’s what they are, partisan. The same is true for the 17 nonpartisan offices of the Court of Appeal judges. There is a State Bar of California Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation. It’s “an agency of the State Bar created by statute for the express purpose of evaluating judicial candidates nominated by the Governor.” Great, can I see their reports? Sorry, no. According to their website,
“Information received during the investigation process or discussed during the evaluation process cannot be released by the commission. Under the statute, information received by the commission is absolutely confidential and it would be a clear-cut violation of the law to divulge how the commission conducted any part of the investigation or the weight given to evidence of a negative or positive nature.”
Well, that’s not helpful. If you count on endorsement by newspapers, you’re in luck. Here are the Los Angeles Times endorsements of these nonpartisan offices.
Nonpartisan Offices: Los Angeles Superior Court
It’s a little easier for the Los Angeles Superior Court. There are four judicial offices on the ballot. The Los Angeles Bar Association does do an evaluation of the judicial candidates and you can read it. However, don’t expect much more than they are either Well Qualified, Qualified, or Not Qualified. I did find some of the candidates have their own campaign websites. Google their names and they’ll pop up. If you don’t want to do that much googling, then check out the Los Angeles Times endorsements. You’ll find they’re not always in line with the Bar Association’s evaluation ratings so you’re going to probably end up having to check out the candidate websites or do a coin toss. Not exactly a great way to pick a judge.
Nonpartisan Offices: School and County
Superintendent of Public Instruction: In case you were wondering what they do, here’s how Ballotpedia.com describes their duties,
“The California Superintendent of Public Instruction is an elected, constitutional, state executive position in the California state government. The superintendent oversees the California Department of Education and, by extension, all of the State of California’s public schools.”
The candidates are Tony K. Thurmond and Marshall Tuck
Here is The Los Angeles Times Endorsement
- County Assessor: Here’s their job description from their official website
“The Assessor is a constitutionally elected official whose main duty is to set values on property. Fiduciary responsibilities encompass managing, planning, organizing and directing all phases of operations in the Assessor’s Office for producing an annual assessment roll.”
The candidates are the current Assessor Jeffrey Prang and John “Lower Taxes” Loew (really, that’s his name). I couldn’t find a campaign website for Prang so you’re going to need to read the County website to find out more about him. Well, that’s good campaign strategy. I mean he’s already there. John “Lower Taxes” Loew has a website.
Here is The Los Angeles Times Endorsement
- County Sherriff:
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) is a law enforcement agency which serves Los Angeles County, California…It is the largest Sheriff’s Department in the world, with approximately 18,000 employees.”
The candidates are Jim McDonnell and Alex Villanueva.
Here is The Los Angeles Times Endorsement
More Information Sources
Of course, you can sit in front of your television or in your car and listen to the radio or surf the net and watch and hear the countless number of pro-candidate and anti-candidate attack ads flooding our senses. This doesn’t even count the ads on the various measures. Or you can go to websites of the candidates and measures, research them, and make informed decisions (Yeah, right). Luckily, there’s help. A number of nonprofit and media sites provide digestible bits of information to assist you with your decision-making:
- From CalMatters.org 2018 Election Guide
There are the endorsements from Editorial Boards. Here are a few you can consult:
Another media information resource:
- KPCC Southern California Public Radio: The Voter Game Plan
