Bid to Invalidate Judge’s Election Fails

A Superior Court judge has rejected an effort to invalidate the election of an El Monte Municipal Court judge by a challenger who accused the jurist of living in another county.

Judge John Major ruled that Albert Perez Jr. failed to prove that Rio Hondo Municipal Court Judge Peter J. Meeka violated election eligibility rules during the June primary by claiming a Los Angeles County residency.

“I am happy at the result,” Meeka said. “I am not surprised at the outcome.”

Perez had alleged in a lawsuit that Meeka was ineligible for the office because he lived with his wife in Upland in San Bernardino County, not in Los Angeles County.

At the trial, Meeka maintained that he had a residency in La Verne with a friend and has rented an apartment in that city since April. Several witnesses testified that they had seen Meeka at properties in the city.