In the race to be a San Diego Superior Court judge, candidate Jodi Cleesattle held a growing lead for one contested seat, and the leading candidate for the other contested seat was just under the threshold for an outright win and thus looking at a November runoff, according to updated tallies released early Friday evening.
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There are still roughly 195,000 votes left to count.
Cleesattle, a senior assistant state attorney general, has tallied more than 286,000 votes, just over 54%, as she continued to widen her lead over Adam Noakes, an administrative law judge, in the race for Office No. 31. Noakes trailed by 8 percentage points, drawing nearly 243,000 of the votes counted as of Friday.
If a candidate draws more than 50% of the vote in the primary, they will win that judicial office outright. Cleesattle appears on track to clear that hurdle.
In the race for Office No. 32, San Diego Chief Deputy City Attorney Tia Ramirez also continued to pull farther ahead, drawing 49% of the vote, a tally approaching 263,600 votes.
Probate attorney and law professor Nicole D’Ambrogi remained in second place at 40% with more than 213,500 votes. Civil litigator David Gallo trailed with 11%, drawing more than 59,000 votes.
If no candidate reaches that 50% threshold, the two who draw the most votes will compete in the November election — which could shape up to be a contest between Ramirez and D’Ambrogi.
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Running unopposed for three different open judicial seats are Tracy Prior and Laurie Hauf, both of whom are longtime deputy district attorneys, and Court Commissioner Leah Boucek. Early election results indicate each drew 100% of the votes counted as of Friday.
The county Registrar of Voters said it expects to release the next batch of results by 6 p.m. Monday.
Cleesattle and Noakes seek to fill Judge Garry Haehnle’s seat. D’Ambrogi, Gallo and Ramirez are vying to fill the seat held by Judge Daniel Belsky.
Boucek, Prior and Hauf are seeking the seats of Judge Earl Maas, Judge Daniel Goldstein and Judge Richard Whitney, respectively.
None of the five judges sought re-election. The vast majority of vacancies are filled by appointment by the governor. Seats tend to come open for election — as opposed to appointment — when a judge opts not to run for re-election.
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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