Tuesday, February 25, 2014
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Prosecutor Aceves Says He Will Not Fight Calderon
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer
Deputy District Attorney Efrain Aceves said yesterday he will not be a candidate for the Los Angeles Superior Court judgeship being sought by former state legislator Charles M. Calderon.
Aceves, president of La Raza Lawyers of California, said he had told friends and family prior to last Friday that he would not run for the seat now held by Judge Ronald Sohigian, who is retiring in April. Last Friday’s indictments of Calderon’s brothers, state Sen. Ronald Calderon and former Assemblyman Thomas Calderon, on federal corruption charges did nothing to change his mind, he told the MetNews.
Tom Calderon pled not guilty Friday and posted bail. Ron Calderon surrendered yesterday, pled not guilty, and was released on $50,000 bail.
The Associated Press reported from Sacramento that Senate Democrats caucused yesterday and decided to give Ron Calderon an ultimatum: resign within a week or face suspension from the Senate.
After Charles Calderon filed his declaration of intent to run for judge, Aceves said he was uncertain whether he would stay in. He accused Calderon of “seeking to come in and buy a race,” and said a judicial contest “should be above all these types of politics.”
Yesterday, he expressed fear that Friday’s indictment, while making no reference to Charles Calderon, “may end up injecting even more politics into a judicial race that I feel should be above partisan politics,” and suggested that Calderon not run.
“Frankly, if Calderon truly cared about the judiciary he would drop out of the race and not bring the cloud of corruption that follows the Calderon name into this respected institution,” Aceves said.
Aceves and Calderon were among five candidates to file declarations of intent to seek election to the seat, designated as Office No. 48 on the ballot for the June 3 primary. None of the five have returned nominating papers, which are required in order to actually place the candidate’s name on the ballot.
Of the other declared candidates, only one—Deputy District Attorney Carol Rose—has said she would definitely run. Sole practitioner Andrew Stein reiterated yesterday that he intends to run for a different seat, while Deputy District Attorney Helen Kim appeared likely to run in another contest.
Kim filed declarations of intent in eight different seats, but had only taken out nominating papers for two seats, the ones being sought by fellow prosecutors Chris Frisco and Serena Murillo.
The last day for returning papers is March 7, and candidates who filed declarations of intent can take out the paperwork at any time prior to the deadline.
The filing status of candidates or potential candidates for the remaining 14 contested or contestable races, as of Friday, was as follows. Candidates for whom ballot designations are listed have returned nominating papers, assuring that their names will appear on the ballot.
•Office No. 22, Amy Carter (Sex Crimes Prosecutor) and Pamala F. Matsumoto (had not returned nominating papers) for the seat of Judge Michael Solner, who retired this month.
•Office No. 54, Shannon L. Knight (Gang Homicide Prosecutor) and Debra L. Losnick (Superior Court Commissioner), for the seat now held by Judge Lance Ito.
•Office No. 61, B. Otis Felder (had not returned nominating papers), Kim (had not taken out nominating papers), Jacqueline H. Lewis (had not returned nominating papers), and Dayan Mathai (had not returned nominating papers), for the seat now held by Judge Michael Nash.
•Office No. 72, Chris J. Frisco (Criminal Gang Prosecutor) and Kim (had not returned nominating papers), for the seat now held by Judge Joseph DiLoreto.
•Office No. 76, Alison Matsumoto Estrada (Government Corruption Prosecutor) and Kim (had not taken out nominating papers), for the seat now held by Judge Harvey Giss.
•Office No. 82, Ann H. Park (had not returned nominating papers) and Kim (had not taken out nominating papers) for the seat now held by Judge Arthur M. Lew.
•Office No. 87, Tom Griego (Criminal Gang Prosecutor), Steven P. Schreiner (had not returned nominating papers) and Stein (had not returned nominating papers), for the seat now held by Judge Rex Heeseman.
•Office No. 90, Serena R. Murillo (Sexual Predator Prosecutor) and Kim (had not returned nominating papers) for the seat now held by Judge Daniel Lopez.
•Office No. 97, Kim (had not taken out nominating papers), Teresa Pineda Magno (returned nominating papers, but ballot designation not confirmed by registrar’s office), and Songhai Miguda-Armsted (had not returned nominating papers), for the seat formerly held by Judge David Milton, who retired this month.
•Office No. 107, Emma Castro (Superior Court Commissioner), Deputy District Attorney Joan M. Chrostek (had not returned nominating papers), and Kim (had not taken out nominating papers), for the seat now held by Judge Bob S. Bowers Jr.
•Office No. 113, Steven Klaif (Superior Court Referee), Stacy Wiese (had not returned nominating papers), and Arnold William Mednick (had not returned nominating papers), for the seat now held by Judge R. Bruce Minto, who is retiring next month.
•Office No. 117, Carol Najera (had not returned nominating papers) and James B. Pierce (Judge of the Superior Court).
•Office No. 138, Marc A. Gibbons (had not returned nominating papers) and Donna Hollingsworth Armstrong (had not taken out nominating papers), for the seat now held by Judge Carlos Uranga.
•Office No. 157, Andrew Cooper (Gang Homicide Prosecutor) and Mednick (had not returned nominating papers), for the seat formerly held by Judge Jessica Perrin Silvers, who retired this month.
Copyright 2014, Metropolitan News Company