Mark Fickes

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Mark Fickes
Image of Mark Fickes
Superior Court of Alameda County
Tenure

2025 - Present

Term ends

2031

Years in position

0

Elections and appointments
Last elected

March 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of California, Berkeley, 1987

Graduate

Johns Hopkins University, 1990

Law

University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1992

Personal
Birthplace
San Francisco, Calif.
Religion
Jewish
Profession
Partner
Contact

Mark Fickes is a judge of the Superior Court of Alameda County in California. He assumed office on January 1, 2025. His current term ends on January 6, 2031.

Fickes won election for judge of the Superior Court of Alameda County in California outright in the primary on March 5, 2024, after the general election was canceled.

Biography

Mark Fickes was born in San Francisco, California. He obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1987, a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1990, and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1992. His professional experience includes working as an attorney. As of 2020, he was a partner at the law firm of Cannata, O'Toole, Fickes & Olson.[1]

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Alameda County, California (2024)

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Superior Court of Alameda County

Mark Fickes won election outright against Michael P. Johnson in the primary for Superior Court of Alameda County on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Mark Fickes
Mark Fickes (Nonpartisan)
 
55.2
 
133,009
Image of Michael P. Johnson
Michael P. Johnson (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
44.8
 
107,844

Total votes: 240,853
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Fickes in this election.

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Alameda County, California (2020)

General election

General election for Superior Court of Alameda County

Elena Condes defeated Mark Fickes in the general election for Superior Court of Alameda County on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Elena Condes
Elena Condes (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
55.9
 
372,070
Image of Mark Fickes
Mark Fickes (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
43.6
 
290,416
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.4
 
2,993

Total votes: 665,479
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Superior Court of Alameda County

Elena Condes and Mark Fickes defeated Lilla Szelenyi in the primary for Superior Court of Alameda County on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Elena Condes
Elena Condes (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
41.2
 
147,168
Image of Mark Fickes
Mark Fickes (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
38.2
 
136,387
Lilla Szelenyi (Nonpartisan)
 
20.7
 
73,855

Total votes: 357,410
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Endorsements

To view Fickes' endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Mark Fickes did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Candidate Connection

Mark Fickes completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fickes' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I was born in the Bay Area, and I am proud to have lived in Alameda County for a total of 30 years.

I was raised to believe that working for justice was a personal and moral imperative. My grandparents narrowly avoided falling victim to the Holocaust, so we knew quite well what it means to see justice denied. I was taught to work hard, take nothing for granted, and stand up for those who have no voice, even if their causes were unpopular.

When I was still a child, my father passed away and my mother suffered a stroke which limited her speech and mobility. I attended UC Berkeley to remain close to her. Our family was sustained by the support of labor unions. Because my family did not have much money, I worked to put myself through college and graduate school.

My view of justice is also informed by my experience as a gay man. When our twins were born with the help of a surrogate mother, there was no legal way for my partner and I to both adopt the same child. Years later, we are both their legal fathers, and our marriage is recognized throughout the United States.

I have a diverse legal background. I started my career as a Deputy District Attorney and focused on domestic violence and sexual assault. I then worked at a large law firm followed by eight years prosecuting white collar misconduct as Trial Counsel for the Security and Exchange Commission. I now focus on civil rights and workers' rights cases. I have tried 49 cases to verdict, both civil and criminal.
  • I have worked on almost every kind of case a judge is called upon to decide.
  • I want to help remove the barriers that limit access to the courts for middle and low income individuals.
  • I have always stood up for the average person against the powerful and know how it important it is to treat everyone with dignity and respect.
Many people do not know this, but if a person who has limited financial means is charged with a crime, under most circumstances, that person is entitled to court appointed counsel payed for by taxpayers. That person does not have to pay filing fees or pay private court reporters to transcribe court proceedings. However, if a person without much money is involved in the civil justice system (e.g., family law court, unlawful detainers (evictions), or any other kind of non-criminal legal proceeding), there is no right to court appointed counsel, free filing fees, or free transcripts. I would like to see us lower the barriers to access so that people do not have to fear their finances will be destroyed if they end up in a legal dispute.
My first job was in college. I worked scooping ice cream as a way to put myself through college. I worked my way though college, graduate school and then law school. My first job as a lawyer was as a Deputy District Attorney. I focused on domestic violence and sexual assault. For the past 20 years, I have worked in civil law doing a variety of cases from prosecuting white collar corruption to representing whistleblowers and victims of discrimination based on race, age, gender and sexual orientation.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 27, 2020