ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Two Picks for Judge

In last June’s primary election, Margaret R. Anderson and Donna L. Crandall received more votes than any other candidates in their judicial races. But because of the large field that split the votes cast, neither received the 50%-plus-one majority that is needed for election in primary contests.

Voters should remedy that on Nov. 3 by electing Anderson to the open seat in the Harbor Municipal Court and Crandall to the open seat in the Central Municipal Court in Santa Ana. They are the most qualified candidates.

We came to that conclusion last spring after interviewing all the candidates and researching their backgrounds. So did members of the Orange County Bar Assn. who, in a survey of all judicial candidates, rated Anderson and Crandall as more qualified than their opponents.

Anderson has been a judge in the North County Municipal Court since 1984. She is a no-nonsense, competent jurist who knows the law and how to apply it. She is seeking to move to Harbor Court because she wants to be closer to her home. She is eminently more qualified than her opponent, and we urge her election.

Crandall also knows the law and her way around a courtroom. For the last eight years, she has been a deputy in the Orange County district attorney’s office, where she has earned a reputation as being one of its most able and intelligent prosecutors. Before that she spent 12 years as a Superior Court clerk.

Margaret R. Anderson and Donna L. Crandall have the knowledge, experience and integrity that are needed.