Wednesday, October 30, 2019
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Dellinger, Cole Target Open Seats; Romero Won’t Seek Reelection
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Two more candidates yesterday entered races for Los Angeles Superior Court open seats, bringing the number of contestants to five.
Myanna Dellinger, an associate professor of law at the University of South Dakota, filed a declaration of intent to seek Office No. 72, currently held by Judge Debre Weintraub, who said Monday she will not seek reelection.
Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Emily Cole took out, but did not file, a declaration of intent to run for Office No. 145. The incumbent, Richard Romero, confirmed yesterday that he is not seeking reelection.
Romero has been a member of the Superior Court for nearly 30 years. He was an East Los Angeles Municipal Court judge for more than two years before that.
Candidates filing declarations of intent on Monday were Deputy District Attorney Shannon Kathleen Cooley (Office No. 17), Supervising Deputy Attorney General Linda Sun (Office No. 42), and private practitioner Tom Parsekian (Office No. 129).
Southern California Residency
Dellinger told the METNEWS recently that while she is currently employed by the University of South Dakota School of Law, she has resided for 22 years of her adult life in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
“I teach a combination of classes online and some on location in S. Dakota,” she said in an email. “Thus, with I spend the vast majority of weeks in Los Angeles.”
On her campaign website, Dellinger, who was born in Denmark, says:
“The bench needs more female judges. As a woman and immigrant, I understand the unique challenges met by females and other minorities in today’s diverse society, especially in Los Angeles, my long-term home city and county. I will apply the law considerately and fairly in all cases, esp. gender-related cases of, for example, alleged employment discrimination, sexual harassment, and violence. The rights of victims of sex and gender crimes and other gender-based injustice must be respected.”
Her law degree is from the University of Oregon. She has a master’s degree in international communications from the Aarhus School of Business in Denmark and is currently a PhD candidate in political science at the University of South Dakota.
Cole’s Goals
Cole says on her campaign website:
“The job of a District Attorney isn’t just to put people in prison and get the win. My job is to do what is right. As a judge, I not only want to help the victims of crime but also the defendants that are in a system that they can’t get out of.”
She received her law degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
The primary will take place March 3. Up for election are 188 Los Angeles Superior Court judges.
As of press time yesterday, 168 of them had taken out election papers—signature-in-lieu petitions and or declaration of intent. That number includes Judge Randolph Rogers who took out an in-lieu petition (to use signatures in place of cash for the filing fee) but decided not to run and endorsed Cooley for his seat.
So far, 44 judges have filed their declarations of intent.
The deadline for declarations is Nov. 6 for incumbents and challengers and Nov. 12 for candidates who seek open seats. The period for filing nominating papers is Nov. 12 to Dec. 6.
Copyright 2019, Metropolitan News Company