LOCAL ELECTIONS / JUDICIAL RACES : Brooks Retaining His Seat but Runoffs Likely Elsewhere

Municipal Judge James M. Brooks was scoring an impressive reelection win Tuesday, while in early results two other Orange County Municipal Court races appeared headed for November runoffs.

In Municipal Court in Newport Beach, Judge Margaret R. Anderson, 59, of Municipal Court in Fullerton appeared likely to face private attorney Debra Allen, 44, of Corona del Mar in a runoff. Trailing the two were deputy district attorneys Mike Jacobs and Vickie L. Hix, and attorney Cameron J. Quinn.

The candidates were vying for the seat vacated by retiring Judge Selim S. Franklin.

In Municipal Court in Santa Ana, Donna L. Crandall, 48, of Santa Ana was leading the pack with about 38% of the vote. The race for second place was too close to call: In a virtual tie were John F. Anderson, 50, of Anaheim and Sal Sarmiento, 40, of Santa Ana. Michael J. Pear, 46, of Newport Beach was a distance fourth.

None of the 18 Superior Court judges up for reelection faced opponents.

In the contest apparently won by Brooks, 54, he defeated attorney David E. Hosmer, 40, by a comfortable 2-to-1 margin. A relatively unknown private lawyer, Hosmer, 40, had criticized Brooks for inconsistency in the way he has sentenced offenders.

In the most heated of the three contests, Jacobs defied the tradition that has kept nonpartisan judicial elections low key by attacking his four opponents in the closing days of the election.

Jacobs publicly labeled Anderson--who previously had called Jacobs a “personal friend”--a “carpetbagger.” Anderson sought the Newport Beach seat to move closer to her Huntington Beach home.

In a newspaper ad, Jacobs also criticized colleague Hix for having too few high-profile cases; Quinn for being a private attorney with no prosecutorial experience, and Allen for being a former flower shop owner.