The Orange County Vote : LOCAL ELECTIONS / JUDGES : Whitney Builds Large, Early Lead Despite State’s Misconduct Charges : Courts: Publicity surrounding alleged misdeeds helped incumbent, judge’s attorney says. Opponent attributes strong showing to ‘voter ignorance.’

Municipal Judge Claude E. Whitney, who is facing official misconduct charges, appeared to be waging a successful battle for his judicial life Tuesday against a defense attorney who says Orange County deserves a judge who follows the law.

In early returns, Whitney was leading his opponent, defense attorney Dennis Patrick O’Connell of Yorba Linda, by a significant margin.

The battle for Whitney’s seat was the most closely watched of four local judicial races. The state Commission on Judicial Performance filed misconduct charges last month alleging that Whitney, 63, denied defendants their right to an attorney and violated other constitutional rights in his Santa Ana courtroom. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is also reviewing similar allegations against Whitney.

The judge, who has denied any wrongdoing and predicts he will be vindicated, huddled with his wife next to a piano in the lobby at Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa. “I’m very upbeat and positive,” he said, reading from a prepared statement.

“I ran on my record as a fair and firm judge who is a strong supporter of law and order, and I believe that message reached the voters of Orange County. The people have spoken.”

His attorney, Ron Brower, said the publicity involving Whitney’s alleged misdeeds was apparently helping the incumbent judge.

“In Orange County, our voters are extremely conservative,” Brower said. “If you run publicity on a judge that he’s too severe and that he’s not spending enough time with defendants, he’s likely to win on a landslide.”

O’Connell, 44, attributed Whitney’s strong showing at the polls to “voter ignorance.”

“I walked precincts, went to 2,000 homes and found eight people who knew the issue,” he said. “They’re not saying Whitney’s good or bad. They’re saying he’s (an) incumbent.”

In the two other Municipal Court races, incumbents Pamela L. Iles in South County and Daniel C. Dutcher in Westminster were leading by wide margins over their challengers.

And in the only contested race for Superior Court, Santa Ana Municipal Judge Gary Patrick Ryan was holding a large lead over colleague Municipal Judge Barbara (Tam) Nomoto.

In South County, Iles, 49, who has been on the bench there for 12 years, was being challenged by Mission Viejo attorney John C. Connolly, 51, who runs a general law practice.

“It was about experience,” Iles said after early election results showed her leading the race. “I’ve worked for victims’ rights in this state for 18 years. I think that’s what voters recognized. They saw through the rhetoric and voted for the best record.”

In Westminster, incumbent Dutcher was fighting off criticisms from a prosecutor and a civil attorney that he is too lenient in sentencing.

Dutcher, who has been on the bench since his 1982 election, attributed the complaints to smear tactics. He had the support of more than 90 fellow judges and commissioners countywide.

Challenging him were Deputy Dist. Atty. Caryl Lee, 37, who handles family support cases, and Seal Beach attorney Barry S. Brown, 39, who serves as a pro tem judge in civil and small claims cases.

The animosity present in these judicial contests was absent in the only race for a seat on the Orange County Superior Court.

Judges Nomoto and Ryan refused to criticize each other, instead focusing their campaigns on their own strengths.