JUDICIAL : Friedman, Moriarity Headed for Runoff

After a race marked by a last-minute advertising blitz that included an airplane towing a banner over Downtown Los Angeles, Westside Assemblyman Terry B. Friedman finished virtually neck and neck with Van Nuys attorney John L. Moriarity in a countywide judicial election Tuesday.

The contest for the Superior Court seat will be decided in a runoff election in November after what is expected to be an expensive and hard-fought campaign.

In another Superior Court race, Beverly Hills-based incumbent Irving Shimer easily brushed aside a challenge from attorney Stuart H. Hirsh, who was found by a State Bar Court to be suffering from a “borderline personality” disorder and “poor impulse control.”

“I was told at the inception of this matter that 30% (to) 35% of all the people who vote in these judicial elections vote against the incumbent,” said Shimer, a 12-year veteran of the bench. “So I beat the norm.”

Shimer picked up 71% of the vote, compared to Hirsh’s 29%. Hirsh was rated “unqualified” by the Los Angeles County Bar Assn. and his license to practice law was suspended earlier this year for, among other things, keeping more fees than he was entitled to, according to the State Bar report.

Hirsh did not respond to a telephone call seeking comment on the election results. He said earlier that he was running against Shimer, who has been criticized for using sarcasm from the bench, because he “had never heard anything good about the man.”

In Culver City, attorneys Paul A. Jacobs and Allan J. Goodman will face each other in a November runoff for a seat on the Municipal Court. Jacobs, a former City Council member, got 31% of the vote, while 24% went to Goodman, an ex-deputy state attorney general. Five other candidates also ran.

Regarding his runoff with Friedman, Moriarity said that an endorsement from the third candidate in the primary, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Schirn, should help him prevail in the November election.

So far Friedman and Moriarity have spent more than $120,000 each on the race, compared to just over $11,000 for Schirn, the head of the district attorney’s special crimes unit, who won 29% of the vote.

“Mr. Friedman is opposed to the death penalty and that is just going to present problems,” Schirn said. He said he also favors Moriarity because of his more than 30 years of experience as an attorney.

Friedman practiced landlord-tenant law and headed the Bet Tzedek Legal Services Agency, which serves low-income clients, before going to the Assembly.

Moriarity, a civil attorney who ran as a strong proponent of law and order, filled the radio airwaves with ads in the days before the election. He also hired an airplane to tow a banner reading “Vote for Moriarity” over large swatches of the county.

Times staff writer Carol Chastang contributed to this story.