All Open Seats for LASC Have at Least One Contender

Monday, February 9, 2026

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All Open Seats for LASC Have at Least One Contender

ALJ With Two Failed Bids for Superior Court in Other Counties Throws Hat in Race Candice Henry Files Declaration of Intent to Final Remaining Office

By Kimber Cooley, associate editor

All 12 open seats for Los Angeles Superior Court have at least one candidate, as of mid-afternoon Friday, with contenders including a former actress and a Rancho Cucamonga-based administrative law judge who failed to secure a judgeship in 2024 despite running for open seats in two counties.

Adjunct Professor and Director of the Pepperdine Caruso Disaster Relief Clinic David DeJute took out, but did not file, a declaration of intent to run for two seats, Nos. 87 and 181. A Harvard Law School alumni, DeJute is of counsel with the Los Angeles office of Michelman & Robinson LLP and specializes in complex litigation work.

A former assistant U.S. attorney, DeJute argued before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2011 on behalf of the government in Drake v. Obama, the case challenging the then-president’s legitimacy as a candidate for reelection based on claims that he was not a natural-born citizen. He filed a declaration of intent for a seat on the Los Angeles court in 2018 but did not file nominating papers, citing “personal and private” reasons for his departure.

Former Actress

Anna Slotky Reitano, a candidate who lost in the 2022 general election to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Abby Baron, has expressed an intent to try again. A former child actress, who starred as one of the McCallister siblings in the 1990 holiday smash hit “Home Alone,” Reitano was a deputy public defender when she last sought election; she is currently employed by the Office of the County Counsel.

During the 2022 election, Reitano ran as one of four “Defenders of Justice” supported by the “Justice PAC By la Defensa, a Project of Tides Advocacy,” a left-wing organization that promoted candidates with backgrounds as public defenders. She graduated from the UC Davis School of Law and was admitted to practice in 2009.

Also filing an intent to run for two seats on Friday was Dieter Carlos Dammeier, an administrative law judge for the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, who submitted papers using only his middle and last name. A graduate of Western State University College of Law, he simultaneously ran in 2024 for judicial seats for both San Bernardino and Merced counties.

He lost both races in the primary campaigns. Now setting his sights on Los Angeles, the Rancho Cucamonga practitioner, who was admitted in 1997, claims to be “putting aside $1,000,000 in campaign funding to be able to get his message out across the County,” but he has yet to form a finance committee.

Deputy District Attorneys

As expected, Deputy District Attorney Candice Henry filed a declaration of her intent to run for the last remaining uncontested seat, No. 196, on Friday. Two other prosecutors with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Mariela Torres and Irene M. Lee, submitted papers for Seat Nos. 141 and 14, respectively.

Lee, a graduate of the Chicago-Kent School of Law who has been practicing in California since 2007, is currently serving as special assistant to District Attorney Nathan Hochman. Torres graduated from Pacific Coast University School of Law and was admitted to practice in 2006.

Also throwing his hat into the ring is Deputy Public Defender Justin Allen Clayton, a graduate of Thomas Jefferson School of Law who has been licensed to practice since 2012.

Three candidates other than DeJute took out but did not file declarations. They are Deputy District Attorney Irene Lee, eying Office No. 14, Chellei G. Jimenez, a family law practitioner who is considering a run for Office No. 65, and criminal defense attorney Rhonda Dixon who took out a declaration for Office 66.

Challenges to Incumbents

Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson filed an intent to challenge Superior Court Judge Pat Connelly in the race for Seat No. 116 earlier in the week.

Two contenders submitted papers indicating possible runs for Seat No. 2 against Superior Court Judge Robert S. Draper, who is under investigation by the Commission on Judicial Performance based on bizarre statements and a concern that the jurist, who is seeing a psychiatrist, might be suffering from a disability.

Deputy District Attorney Tal K. Valbuena and attorney Allan L. Dollison, who was suspended in 2001 while himself under the care of a psychiatrist, each filed declarations for Office No. 2.

Superior Court Judge David Walgren, holding Office No. 81, has drawn a challenge from sole practitioner Dan Kapelovitz.

Rundown of Filings

As of mid-afternoon Friday, there were these filings for open seats:

Office No. 14: Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Angie Christides, Administrative Law Judge Carlos Dammeier, Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office Special Assistant Irene M. Lee.

Office No. 39: Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Angie Christides and Los Angeles Deputy Public Defender Binh Q. Dang.

Office No. 60: Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Rosalba Luz Gutierrez.

Office No. 64: Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Maria Lisa Ghobadi and Los Angeles Deputy Public Defender Rhonda Haymon.

Office No. 65: Deputy Public Defender Justin Allen Clayton, Northridge attorney Samuel Wolloch Krause, and Los Angeles’ Deputy County Counsel Anna Slotky Reitano.

Office No. 66: Chief Assistant Glendale City Attorney Ann M. Maurer and private practitioner Cheryl C. Turner.

Office No. 87: Los Angeles Deputy Public Defender Anthony (A.J.) Bayne and Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Sharee Sanders Gordon.

Office No. 131: Los Angeles Deputy Alternate Public Defender David Ross and Los Angeles Deputy Public Defender Donna Tryfman.

Office No. 141: Administrative Law Judge Carlos Dammeier and Northridge attorney Samuel Wolloch Krause.

Office No. 176: Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Gloria Marin.

Office No. 181: Administrative Law Judge Thanayi Lindsey.

Office No. 196: Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Candice Henry.

The period for filing nominating papers starts today and ends March 6, with a five-day extension in running for seats held by a judge who filed a declaration of intent but did not perfect his or her candidacy.