Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

 

Page 1

 

Six Hispanic Judges Will Not Face Write-In Campaign

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

Six sitting Hispanic male Los Angeles Superior Court judges who had been targeted in the June 3 primary election for possible opposition by write-in will not face challengers, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office confirmed yesterday.

A spokesperson for the office said that it had not received any nomination papers seeking to qualify write-in candidates in the races involving Judges Daniel P. Ramirez, Juan Carlos Dominguez, Michael Villalobos, Hector M. Guzman, Daniel S. Lopez and Jose Sandoval by 5 p.m., the deadline to do so.

The man behind the putative write-in campaign, Rev. Ronald C. Tan of Carson, had said he targeted Hispanic judges because they would be easier to defeat if he could successfully recruit Filipino challengers.

He told the Los Angeles Times in March:

“When you’re running against a Caucasian, it’s kind of hard…. As Filipinos, our names are almost the same as Hispanics, so that puts us on co-equal ground.”

Tan could not be reached for comment yesterday, but he had also previously said his primary reasons for mounting the write-in campaign were his concerns about appellate rulings in religious rights cases, and getting more Filipino-Americans on the bench.

Although unopposed incumbent superior court judges are generally deemed elected without their names appearing on the ballot, they are included on the ballot if a petition seeking a write-in campaign signed by 100 qualified voters is timely filed.

Tan and his supporters met this initial requirement, so the six judges will still appear on the June 3 ballot under Office Nos. 3, 35, 41, 55, 101 and 102, respectively.

However, the six judges will not face any opponents, and write-in votes for challengers on the June 3 ballot will not be counted, as supporters of the write-in campaign failed to submit nomination papers for any candidates by yesterday’s deadline.

 

Copyright 2008, Metropolitan News Company