Wednesday, February 17, 2016
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Candidates Scramble for Multiple Seats as Filing Period Ends
Sole Practitioner Says He Is Dropping Sztraicher Challenge
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer
Several candidates who had previously filed for election to the Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday filed for alternative seats, while others who had previously filed settled into specific races.
Yesterday was the last permissible date for filing in the three seats in which no incumbent filed a declaration of intent by last week's deadline.
Consultant David Gould, who had several clients filing earlier for the same seats, said three of his clients—Deputy District Attorneys Esteban Aceves, Steven Schreiner, and Susan Townsend—had made specific plans as to what races to run in.
Gould said Aceves would run in Office No. 42, the seat now held by Judge Alan Rosenfield; Schreiner in Office No. 11, now held by Judge Michele Rosenblatt; and Townsend Office No. 84, now held by Judge Kathleen Diesman.
Any candidate who has filed a declaration of intent to run in any seat, however, is free to return nominating documents for that seat up until the March 11 deadline. Once a candidate files those documents, however, he or she is locked into that seat.
Possible Rivals
Potential opponents for Schreiner in Office No. 11 are Deputy District Attorney Debra Archuleta, civil litigator Jonathan Malek, and Deputy District Attorney Javier Perez, all of whom filed their DOIs before yesterday, along with Deputy Attorney General Kim Nguyen, sole practitioner Naser Khoury, and Superior Court Commissioner Cynthia Zuzga, who filed yesterday.
Khoury has also filed for the seats of Judges Marsha Revel and Kathryn Solorzano, but said yesterday he did so only in case the incumbents did not complete their candidacies. Both have indicated they are running.
Nguyen filed for the seat of Judge Elden Fox on Feb. 1, but has said she would not run against the incumbent. The other potential candidate for that seat, Deputy District Attorney David Berger, recently suggested on his LA Dragnet blog that he was prepared to run for the seat even if Fox did.
Other Declarations
Filing declarations of intent in Office No. 42, besides Aceves, were Deputy District Attorney Dennis Vincent, who filed last Thursday, and three who filed yesterday—Zuzga and civil litigators Aaron Weissman and Michael Ribons. Schreiner and Townsend were earlier filers in that race.
Ribons had filed last week against Superior Court Judge Gus Sztraicher, after earlier saying he did not intend to challenge an incumbent.
After joining the open-seat contest, he said he was “as sure as I can be” that he would stay in that race, which would leave Sztraicher unopposed.
Filing in Office No. 84, besides Townsend, were Deputy District Attorney Philip Marshall and Perez, both of whom had filed previously, as well as Vincent, Khoury, and Weissman, who filed yesterday.
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