MUNICIPAL COURT RACES : Prosecutor, Judge Lead in Central, Harbor : Crandall expresses surprise at her good showing. Fullerton Judge Anderson leads narrowly.

A local prosecutor and a sitting judge seeking to switch judicial districts held leads over their opponents Tuesday in races for two municipal court seats.

In the race for a seat on Central Municipal Court in Santa Ana, Deputy Dist. Atty. Donna L. Crandall, 49, of Santa Ana was soundly defeating attorney Sal Sarmiento, 41, also of Santa Ana. Crandall was winning by nearly 2-to-1 with votes in almost half the precincts counted. The seat was vacated by a retiring judge.

Crandall was surprised by her strong showing. “Boy, it feels real good. How it happened, I don’t know. I walked a lot of precincts and talked to a lot of people and it may have helped that I was a woman. The law enforcement backing helped a lot,” she said.

Vying for a seat in Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach, Fullerton Municipal Judge Margaret R. Anderson, 59, of Huntington Beach was narrowly ahead of attorney Debra Allen, 44, of Corona del Mar, with almost half the precincts reporting.

While Anderson had eight years of experience as a judge in her favor, Allen significantly outspent her and walked precincts daily. Anderson did no campaigning herself, relying on volunteers, mostly local police officers.

All four candidates had been forced into Tuesday’s runoff after failing to capture a majority of the votes during the primary election.

Of the four candidates, only Anderson had nothing to lose. She sought a new judicial seat so she could work closer to her home, but would retain her Fullerton seat if she lost.

Contested judicial elections are rare, and many judges run unopposed for their six-year terms. When judges retire at the end of a term, elections are held to fill the seats.

During the primary, when nine candidates were competing for the two seats, the debates were often bitter or reduced to name-calling.

With the field narrowed to four, however, the candidates focused on experience and qualifications. The candidates also refused to criticize their opponents.

All four promised to be tough on repeat offenders and violent crimes. They said the key issue facing voters would be which person was better qualified.

Anderson said she was running on her record and reputation as a fair judge. She said she has never been overruled on appeal and had the backing of many judges and law enforcement officials who volunteered for her campaign.

Allen, an attorney specializing in civil law, said she decided to enter the race because of the lack of municipal court judges with civil backgrounds.

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

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

Allen 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 on the issue.

Crandall works in the sexual assault and child abuse unit of the district attorney’s office and has been a prosecutor since 1984. She worked as a Superior Court clerk for 10 years and went to law school at night.

Sarmiento, a graduate of UCLA Law School, has been in private practice for 15 years. He specializes in family and criminal law and also has experience in civil law. During the campaign, he said he would be one of two Latino municipal court judges in the county, if elected.

O.C. Vote Tables: A10, A17