The contested races to fill seats on the San Diego Superior Court bench appear to have ended in the primary election this year, with both judicial candidates likely to win their seats outright, unofficial results show — although one race was a squeaker.
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San Diego Chief Deputy City Attorney Tia Ramirez, candidate for judicial Office No. 32, drew nearly 50.5% of the vote in that contest, which puts her over the 50% threshold needed for a judicial candidate to secure the seat and avoid a November runoff, if the results hold.
In an online post declaring victory after the unofficial results were released late last week, Ramirez wrote that she was “overwhelmed with gratitude and deeply humbled by the trust so many members of our community have placed in me.”
“It hasn’t hit me quite yet,” she said Monday. “I am sort of awestruck by the amount of support. It was a grassroots campaign. I was the campaign committee.”
Ramirez drew nearly 345,000 votes. Her closest competitor was probate attorney and law professor Nicole D’Ambrogi, who drew 39% with just over 299,000 votes. Civil litigator David Gallo trailed with about 10.5%, nearly 72,000 votes.
D’Ambrogi said she is waiting to see the final count but is not leaning toward asking for a recount and has already posted online a concession statement congratulating Ramirez. “Ultimately I am at peace with what the results are,” D’Ambrogi said. She said she intends to run again.
In the other contested race, for Office No. 31, candidate Jodi Cleesattle, a supervising deputy state attorney general, drew 55.6% of the vote, about 11 percentage points ahead of Adam Noakes, an administrative law judge. Noakes drew 44.4%.
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“I’m very excited,” Cleesattle said, adding that being on the bench is “something that I aspired to for a long time.”
This was the second run for a judicial office for Cleesattle, who drew more than 375,00 votes. Noakes drew more than 299,000.
There were also three judicial races in which the candidates ran unopposed. Unofficial results show Tracy Prior and Laurie Hauf, both of whom are longtime deputy district attorneys, and Court Commissioner Leah Boucek each drawing 100% of the vote in their respective races.
About 5,600 ballots could still be counted; they have missing or non-matching signatures, and those affected voters have until June 24 to “cure” the problem, according to the Registrar of Voters. The election is expected to be certified on or before July 2.
There are 135 judicial seats in San Diego Superior Court. Judicial races are nonpartisan, and terms run six years. Superior Court judges earn an annual salary of nearly $245,000.
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