One Superior Court Judge Faces Contest : Filing Deadline Passes for Seven Judicial Posts on June Ballot

Orange County’s June 3 judicial elections will include three Superior Court races and four Municipal Court contests, but some of the biggest races will be for seats with no incumbents.

By Wednesday’s filing deadline, only one Superior Court incumbent, William F. McDonald, had a challenger, and that was only by accident. James E. Wilkoski, an Anaheim attorney, mistakenly thought McDonald’s seat was vacant.

In Municipal Court, Judge Betty L. Elias in Central, Brian Carter in Harbor and Kathleen E. O’Leary in West will face challengers.

But two of the liveliest campaigns will be for Superior Court seats being vacated by Judge Mark A. Soden and James F. Judge, who are not seeking reelection.

West Municipal Judge David H. Brickner and Deputy Dist. Atty. Anthony J. Rackauckas will run for Soden’s seat. Brickner was appointed by former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. Rackauckas is a leading Orange County opponent of Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird.

Defeat in Previous Races

Deputy Dist. Atty. William Bedsworth will campaign for Judge’s seat against Robert H. Gallivan and Joseph L. Barilla, two men who have run in previous elections and lost. Barilla is a Los Angeles County prosecutor who ran against Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. James Enright and Municipal Judge Ragnar Engebretson two years ago. Barilla lost out in the June election and Engebretson won the seat in a runoff against Enright. Gallivan lost to incumbent John Smith in the 1984 judicial elections.

The political pundits at the registrar’s office Wednesday to check on last-minute filings were primarily interested in a judge who did not file a declaration of candidacy--Central Municipal Judge Bobby D. Youngblood.

Youngblood took a leave of absence in November after he decided to campaign full time in his attempt to unseat Sheriff Brad Gates. But some of Youngblood’s adversaries speculated he was actually going to run for judge again and was only using the sheriff’s race to gain extra publicity.

They were wrong.

“I kept telling people I was serious about running for sheriff,” Youngblood said.

3 Seek Youngblood Seat

The filing deadline for the sheriff’s race is next month.

Three people filed to run for Youngblood’s seat, including two prosecutors. The prosecutors are James Brooks of the Orange County district attorney’s office and Paul S. Robbins of the Long Beach city attorney’s office. The other candidate is Diane D. Nordby of Santa Ana, who has been practicing civil law for about six years.

Among women candidates for judicial office, Nordby is the only one who is not an incumbent. Two women incumbents will face challengers in June.

Municipal Judge Betty Elias was so puzzled about why anyone would challenge her that she telephoned one of the candidates, James A. Bates.

“I was just curious why he had decided to run against me,” Elias said.

Vulnerability Cited

Bates, a Santa Ana private attorney, said he chose to run against Elias because he thought she was vulnerable and could be defeated. The other challenger, William H. Randall, a private attorney in Orange, said there was no particular reason why he challenged Elias and not someone else. In fact, he said, he was once in front of Elias on the bench and considered her a good judge.

Municipal Judge Kathleen O’Leary is being challenged by Paul J. Wallin, a Tustin attorney who has become well known for defending men accused of child molestation. Wallin also created law panels to screen indigent clients in North and Central Municipal courts. O’Leary was the presiding judge in West Municipal Court when that court turned down Wallin’s request to start a screening panel there.

The only other challenge is in Harbor Municipal Court, where Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert E. Thomas is challenging incumbent Brian Carter.

North Court Commissioner Richard E. Behn was the only candidate who filed for the seat that will be left vacant by retiring North Municipal Judge Logan Moore.