Superior Court of Orange County, California

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Superior Court

Ballotpedia:Trial Courts

The Superior Court of Orange County is one of 58 Superior Courts in California.

Judges

Judge Tenure Appointed By

Jonathan S. Fish

Arnold Schwarzenegger

James Edward Rogan

2006 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Bradley Erdosi

Jerry Brown

Michael Leversen

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Glenn R. Salter

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Daphne Sykes Scott

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Beatriz M. Gordon

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Jeff Ferguson

2015 - Present

Election

Nicholas S. Thompson

July 21, 2008 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Isabel Apkarian

2021 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Michael Strickroth

2017 - Present

Jerry Brown

Kevin Haskins

2015 - Present

Election

Gassia Apkarian

Jerry Brown

Jeannie M. Joseph

Jerry Brown

Martha K. Gooding

2014 - Present

Jerry Brown

Antony Ufland

2017 - Present

Jerry Brown

Cheri T. Pham

Theodore R. Howard

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Michele Bell

January 2, 2023 - Present

David A. Hoffer

2003 - Present

Gov. Gray Davis (D)

Walter P. Schwarm

2009 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Alma Hernandez

March 30, 2023 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Jay Moorhead

2023 - Present

Robert Goodkin

2022 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Scott A. Steiner

2011 - Present

Kathleen Roberts

2015 - Present

Jerry Brown

William D. Claster

2011 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Carol Henson

2017 - Present

Jerry Brown

Deborah C. Servino

2009 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Richard Lee

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

John S. Adams

Matthew S. Anderson

Patrick H. Donahue

Kimberly Menninger

2003 - Present

Election

Corey Scott Cramin

Gov. Pete Wilson (R)

Derek Guy Johnson

2000 - Present

Gov. Gray Davis (D)

Lance P. Jensen

January 3, 2003 - Present

Election

M. Marc Kelly

2000 - Present

Karen L. Robinson

2003 - Present

Gov. Gray Davis (D)

Randall J. Sherman

2005 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Joe Perez

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Julie A. Palafox

2015 - Present

Jerry Brown

Layne Melzer

2016 - Present

Jerry Brown

Craig E. Arthur

Jerry Brown

Sherri L. Honer

2013 - Present

Jerry Brown

Andre De La Cruz

Jerry Brown

Scott Cooper

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Thomas A. Glazier

Jerry Brown

Nick A. Dourbetas

Nathan T. Vu

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Sheila O. Recio

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Michael Perez

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Lee L. Gabriel

2020 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Julian W. Bailey

2012 - Present

Jerry Brown

Erick Larsh

H. Shaina Colover

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Bryan F. Clavecilla

2024 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Yolanda V. Torres

March 14, 2022 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Sandy Nunes Leal

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Mike Murray

2017 - Present

Election

Andre Manssourian

2011 - Present

Election

David Hesseltine

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Steven D. Bromberg

2005 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Katherine Lewis

Jerry Brown

Kim R. Hubbard

2008 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Melissa R. McCormick

2015 - Present

Jerry Brown

Terri K. Flynn-Peister

Jerry Brown

Tony Ferrentino

January 4, 2021 - Present

Election

Thomas Lo

2020 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Fernando Valle

March 14, 2022 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Megan Wagner

2017 - Present

Election

Larry Yellin

2017 - Present

Election

Gary S. Paer

2000 - Present

Gov. Gray Davis (D)

Lon Hurwitz

2010 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Eric Wersching

2021 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Donald F. Gaffney

2008 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Thomas McConville

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Mary Kreber Varipapa

2015 - Present

Jerry Brown

Richard M. King

2001 - Present

Gov. Gray Davis (D)

Sheila F. Hanson

Richard Pacheco

Jerry Brown

Carmen Luege

2021 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Vibhav Mittal

2021 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Scott Van Camp

2021 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Kunthavi Watson

Gavin Newsom

Huy Nguyen

2023 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Stephen Hicklin

Gavin Newsom

Claudia Alvarez

January 2, 2023 - Present

Christopher Duff

January 2, 2023 - Present

Shawn Nelson

January 2, 2023 - Present

Erin Beltran Rowe

January 2, 2023 - Present

Brahim Baytieh

January 2, 2023 - Present

Eric Scarbrough

January 2, 2023 - Present

Steve McGreevy

January 2, 2023 - Present

Israel Claustro

January 2, 2023 - Present

Julie Swain

January 2, 2023 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Lindsey Martinez

2022 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Adrianne E. Marshack

March 14, 2022 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Juliet O. Macaulay

July 11, 2022 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Mena Guirguis

2023 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Amy Sheth Sagel

2023 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Jason Baez

January 6, 2025 - Present

Richard Zimmer

January 6, 2025 - Present

Whitney Bokosky

January 6, 2025 - Present

Joseph Kang

2023 - Present

Paul Minerich

2023 - Present

William Zidbeck

2022 - Present

Justin Glenn-Leistikow

2023 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Tania Vallejo

2023 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Olga Giller

Gavin Newsom

Brian Waite

Gavin Newsom

Benjamin Azar

Gavin Newsom

Kimberly Carasso

Gavin Newsom

Robert Gerard

2020 - Present

Gavin Newsom

Michael S. McCartin

Jerry Brown

Cynthia Herrera

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Jeremy Dolnick

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Elizabeth G. Macias

Jerry Brown

John R. Zitny

2015 - Present

Jerry Brown

Kimberly Knill

2018 - Present

Jerry Brown

Lewis W. Clapp

2012 - Present

Jerry Brown

Robert A. Knox

2014 - Present

Jerry Brown

Michael J. Cassidy

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Maria D. Hernandez

2009 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

David L. Belz

2009 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Craig L. Griffin

2009 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger

James L. Waltz

2008 - Present

Arnold Schwarzenegger


Judicial selection

The method of judicial selection for the California Superior Courts is officially nonpartisan election of judges, though many judges join the court via gubernatorial appointment. Once judges are appointed, they compete in the next general election following appointment.

If an incumbent Superior Court judge files for re-election and draws no opponent, that race does not appear on the ballot. If the race is contested, the candidate who wins more than 50% of the vote is elected. If no candidate receives more than 50%, the top two compete in a runoff in the general election in November.[1]

Elections

See also: California judicial elections

California is one of 43 states that hold elections for judicial positions. To learn more about judicial selection in California, click here.

Selection method

See also: Nonpartisan election

The 1,535 judges of the California Superior Courts compete in nonpartisan races in even-numbered years. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the June primary election, he or she is declared the winner; if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates is held during the November general election.[2][3][4][5]

If an incumbent judge is running unopposed in an election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot. The judge is automatically re-elected following the general election.[2]

The chief judge of any given superior court is selected by peer vote of the court's members. He or she serves in that capacity for one or two years, depending on the county.[2]

Qualifications
Candidates are required to have 10 years of experience as a law practitioner or as a judge of a court of record.[2]

Election rules

Primary election

Only candidates for the superior courts compete in primary elections.

  • If a superior court judge runs unopposed for re-election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot and he or she is automatically re-elected following the general election.[6][7]
  • Write-in candidates may file to run against an incumbent within 10 days after the filing deadline passes if they are able to secure enough signatures (between 100 and 600, depending on the number of registered voters in the county). In that case, the incumbent would appear on the general election ballot along with an option to vote for a write-in candidate.[7]
  • In contested races, the candidate who receives a majority of all the votes in the primary wins the election. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the primary, the top two compete in the November general election.[8]

General election

  • Superior court candidates who advance from the primary election compete in the general election.
  • Superior court incumbents facing competition from write-in candidates appear on the ballot.[7][8]


See also

External links

Footnotes