Exercising Their Right to a Barb-Free Campaign : Judiciary: All four candidates for two county Municipal Court seats refuse to engage in personal attacks.

The pre-election mudslinging infecting political campaigns at all levels is noticeably absent in the races for two Orange County Municipal Court seats, where four candidates are making a point of being polite to the competition.

The three attorneys and one incumbent judge running for the seats have refused to criticize their opponents. Instead, they are trying to focus attention on their backgrounds and experience--and their opponents’ lack of both.

“I don’t trash people. I will run on my record,” said Fullerton Municipal Judge Margaret R. Anderson, 59, of Huntington Beach. She is running against attorney Debra Allen, 44, of Corona del Mar for a Municipal Court seat in Newport Beach.

“He’s been a perfect gentleman. I can’t say anything negative about him,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Donna L. Crandall, 49, of Santa Ana, who is running against attorney Salvador Sarmiento, 41, also of Santa Ana, for a Municipal Court seat there.

Do these sound like candidates 10 days before an election?

The candidates say they do not believe voters want their judicial candidates mired in name-calling and vicious allegations. This differs sharply from the primary election campaign, when many in the larger field of candidates frequently took aim at their opponents.

“I don’t think a judicial race should be brought down to that level,” Sarmiento said.

All the candidates promise to be tough on crime, especially violent crime and repeat offenders, but they said they recognized the need to judge each case on its merits. The candidates said their differences lie in their backgrounds.

Anderson, who was elected to the bench eight years ago, said she has never been overruled on appeal. She said she has the support of many law enforcement associations and judges, and was recently chosen by the South Orange County YWCA to receive a Tribute to Women Award.

At 40, the mother of three decided to go to law school. She graduated first in her class from Western State University College of Law and worked as a deputy public defender until her election to the Municipal Court in 1984.

“I hope to continue to be a very fair and honest judge just as I have been for the past eight years,” Anderson said. She wants the new seat so she can be closer to her home, she said.

Her opponent, Allen, said she decided to run for the same seat because there are not enough judges with civil law backgrounds. The bulk of Municipal Court cases are criminal, but civil law cases are increasingly complex, she said.

“I think it would be invaluable to have a civil expert on the bench,” Allen said. The 14 years she spent running her own flower shop before becoming an attorney will help her, she added. “You learn efficiency in business, and that carries over.”

Allen offered no criticism of her opponent, but said Anderson’s attempt to switch judicial seats would leave an opening on the bench at a time when handling caseloads should be a priority.

Earlier campaign literature said Allen graduated from the UC Irvine, summa cum laude, while a filing statement says she graduated cum laude.

Allen, however, said she did not graduate with either honor. She said the mix-up was an innocent error caused by her mistaken belief that she had graduated with the higher honors. Anderson declined to comment.

Sarmiento and Crandall, who are vying for the Santa Ana seat, agree that the other would make a fine judge, but both believe themselves to be the better jurist.

Sarmiento has been in practice 15 years, specializing in criminal and family law. A graduate of UCLA Law School, Sarmiento says he also has experience in civil law.

He says he believes he is “academically better qualified” than his opponent. He said that if elected, he would be one of two Latino municipal judges in the county.

“It’s just one of many reasons why I think I would be a good judge,” said Sarmiento, who added that he has the support of many law enforcement, school and local government officials. “I’d like to be a role model and let people know that (Latinos are) not just dishwashers.”

Crandall works in the sexual assault and child abuse unit of the Orange County district attorney’s office and has been a prosecutor since 1984. She worked as a Superior Court clerk for 10 years and attended law school at night after watching attorneys in court and realizing “I can do that.”

She said her many years in the courtroom as a clerk and prosecutor give her a unique perspective that she can bring to the bench.

“I also think there are many judges who don’t work hard enough for their employees--the taxpayers--and I will (work hard) if I’m elected,” Crandall said. She has the support of her boss, Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, several judges and law enforcement associations, she said.