L.A. County judge loses reelection bid in dramatic race

Los Angeles County Judge Robert Draper, who faces misconduct allegations and health concerns, lost his bid for reelection in a rare defeat for an incumbent.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Tal Khan Valbuena defeated Draper with more than 56% of the vote in the June 2 primary election. Draper, an 84-year-old judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, captured roughly 43% of the vote, according to the county election results.

The California secretary of state still needs to certify the results.

“I am deeply humbled by the trust that voters have placed in me,” Khan Valbuena said in a statement Saturday.

“I look forward to earning the public’s trust every day through hard work, thoughtful preparation, and a steadfast commitment to equal justice for all.”

Khan Valbuena, a gay Muslim and refugee from Pakistan who works in the Hollywood mental health court, added that he’s “lived the American dream” and hopes to “honor that gift” by serving on the bench. He’s expected to start his new role in January.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Tal Khan Valbuena at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles.

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

In a statement, Draper congratulated Khan Valbuena and he wished him “the best in his judicial career.” Working as a judge for more than a decade, he said, has been the “greatest honor and professional joy” of his life because it gave him the “the opportunity to serve the people of County of Los Angeles.”

The race between Draper and Khan Valbuena was filled with high-stakes drama and an uphill battle for the sitting judge. In January, the state’s Commission on Judicial Performance filed charges against Draper over allegations of sexual harassment and making improper and biased comments, among others.

He was accused of stroking a female lawyer’s hair after making irrelevant remarks to a Black attorney about “Black history, Black football players, the Civil Rights Act, and the Black Lives Matter movement.”

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Draper contested the claims and denied all wrongdoing and criticized the Commission on Judicial Performance. “This is like the Russian mafia, it’s like Germany,” he previously told The Times. “There’s no due process for any judge.”

Despite the election results, he could still be removed from his seat before his term ends on Jan. 4 or be cleared of the charges.

In his statement, Draper complained about what he described as judges “interested in their own power and position than in what is good for the Court” who used the commission to “silence anyone who they think stands in their way.” He described the commission’s proceedings as an “insurmountable barrier” to his reelection.

“I intend to pursue my defense as vigorously and publicly in that proceeding as possible because it is not really about me,” he said.

Ahead of the primary election, Draper also faced concerns about whether he was healthy enough to continue serving as a judge. Two judges previously told The Times that Draper spent the last three years relegated to a room at the Santa Monica Courthouse without a computer or caseload.

Draper previously told The Times that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease but remained fit to serve on the bench.

Draper, a longtime business litigator, became a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in 2012 after being appointed to the position by then-Gov. Jerry Brown.

Another incumbent judge who went through a tense reelection bid, Pat Connolly, narrowly fended off a challenge from Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Thompson, whose career accolades included winning a rape conviction against Harvey Weinstein.

Connolly bested Thompson by a margin of less than 1%, or about 15,000 votes, after a race that saw Thompson attack Connolly for his history of admonishments by the California judicial performance review board. A sitting judge also accused fellow members on the bench who supported Connolly of harassment and intimidation during the race, The Times previously reported.

“I am truly humbled and honored to be reelected,” Connolly said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing my work protecting the rights of all thoughtfully, fairly, and independently.”