Pollard Holds Slim Lead for Superior Court Seat

Private attorney Nancy A. Pollard edged past her rival for a seat on the Orange County Superior Court bench, according to final unofficial returns.

Pollard, 57, led Municipal Judge Jim Brooks by 1,367 votes, although thousands of absentee ballots are still to be counted in the hard-fought race waged to replace retiring Judge Floyd H. Schenk. A final vote tally will not be known until next week, election officials said.

Pollard and her supporters had stayed up throughout the night checking election returns on the Internet. It wasn’t until 2 a.m. Wednesday that she finally pulled ahead of Brooks.

“I feel really good about it,” said Pollard, sounding tired but upbeat. “I think it was a dignified race and I’m encouraged, of course, but not to the point where I am going to rest assured.”

Pollard is in the final months of her term as president of the Coast Community College Board of Trustees, on which she has served for 13 years. She said her strong showing was largely due to the efforts of her supporters.

“This was like Middle America a long time ago where all of your friends came out and did something,” she said. “Everyone’s effort was so wonderful.”

Brooks could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but late Tuesday he complimented Pollard for running “one heck of a race.”

If her lead holds, she would join newly elected Carla M. Singer on the bench. Singer, 49, beat Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Dunn for a seat on the bench being vacated by retiring Judge Marvin G. Weeks.

“I am absolutely delighted,” Singer said Wednesday. “I think the voters in Orange County made the right choice. They appear to me to be concerned citizens and intelligent people who believe partisan politics should stay outside the courthouse doors.”

During their campaigns, both Singer and Pollard had discussed the need for more women on the Superior Court bench. Of 59 current judges, four are female. A fifth woman, Municipal Judge Barbara Nomoto Schumann, was elected in March and will be sworn in two months from now.

In the county’s third judicial race, Deputy Dist. Atty. Carl Biggs defeated private attorney Paul J. Nestor for a seat on the Municipal Court bench in Laguna Niguel. Biggs replaces retiring Judge Arthur G. Koelle.