California local trial court judicial elections, 2021

Main articles: State judicial elections, 2021 and Local trial court judicial elections, 2021

Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of elections in America's 100 largest cities by population. This coverage extends to every office on the ballot for residents of these cities, including local trial court judges. In 2021, Ballotpedia covered the following local elections in this state:

• Riverside, California - City council
• Orange County, California - Board of supervisors (special)

If the above list includes local trial court judgeships, click the links for more information about the elections. Click here to learn more about how the judges in this state are selected. Ballotpedia did not cover all local trial court judicial elections in this state in 2021. Please consider donating to Ballotpedia to help us expand our coverage of these elections.

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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.

Additional elections

See also: California elections, 2021

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See also

Local courts	California	Other local coverage
Local trial court judicial elections, 2021 Courts and judges by county Judicial selection by state Judicial elections	California elections, 2021 Judicial selection in California Public policy in California Endorsers in California	Municipal elections, 2021 School board elections, 2021 Local ballot measure elections, 2021 Recall elections, 2021

Footnotes

California courts

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Federal courts:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California

State courts:

California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts

State resources:

Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California