Here we go with another off topic post, but we were shocked by the election results for one of the Los Angeles County Superior Court races. Incumbents almost never win those races, and we've rooted against a couple over the years, even secretly assisting their opponents by working phone banks. In Orange County, we had a judge a few years ago who was caught downloading child pornography and carrying on an affair with an underage boy, and he was still the largest votegetter in an election that required a runoff and the sitting judge's withdrawal from the race before he actual lost his post.
So when Lynn Diane Olson, a bagel shop owner who has been an inactive member of the bar for all but about 17 months since 1996, and was rating "not qualified" by the L.A. County Bar Association, beat 20-year incumbent Judge Dzintra Janavs, we were shocked. We've had some experience before her in the writs and receivers department, and we never had a problem with her, even though she has a reputation for being a bit more stern than necessary.
No one seems to know how or why she lost this race. Speculation centers upon her unusual Latvian name, and her small campaign budget of $35,000, compared to Olson's $120,000. Though the election is non-partisan, the ballot guides she sent out pointing out that Janavs was a Republican probably mattered. What did not matter? All significant endorsements belonged to Janavs, who was one of only 2 candidates (out of 28 for all of the judicial positions up for election) who rated as "exceptionally well qualified." The ballot designation noted she was a judge of the Superior Court, while her opponent was identified simply as "attorney at law."
Go figure. The lesson to be learned is this: if you want to be a judge, all you need is a plain surname, $100,000 to let voters know that your opponent is a Republican, and an opponent whose last name sounds strange to the bottom 50th percentile of the voting public.
[Update: It has been brought to our attention that the governor has re-appointed Judge Janavs as a Superior Court judge, which taught us a new lesson in civics: as a practical matter, the voters have no power to remove a sitting judge without the governor's approval. Interesting.]
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