News
Judges and Judiciary
Feb. 25, 2002
Unusual Lineup Runs for Seven Seats on Superior Court Bench
LOS ANGELES - The roster of candidates competing for Superior Court judge in the March 5 primary election reads like a listing of the usual suspects: prosecutors, a commissioner and civil trial lawyers.
But a look beyond the professional titles of those vying for seven seats on the Superior Court bench yields some notable twists:
• A father-and-son team running for different seats.
• A law school owner.
• The only woman among the 21 candidates.
• A judge who is being challenged by the former commissioner he booted from the bench.
The races will include many who have never seen their names on a ballot and several who previously had unsuccessful runs for a Municipal Court seat.
Several of the competitors have suffered setbacks in their quest to win the title of judge. The Los Angeles County Bar Association rated two of the candidates "Not Qualified" to hold the job, while many others who were rated "Qualified" lost appeals to receive the coveted rating of "Well Qualified."
However, one candidate - Lauren Weis - successfully appealed and garnered the highest rating, joining eight others who won that distinction.
The varied group of attorneys will compete for seats in the first countywide judicial election since the Municipal and Superior courts unified in 2000.
In races in which no one candidate receives a majority of the votes, a Nov. 5 runoff will determine the winner.
Two of the candidates are judges who face challenges for their seats. Judge Floyd V. Baxter, who sits in Newhall, and Judge C. Robert Simpson, in Norwalk, are fighting to keep the jobs they have held for 16 and 13 years, respectively. Approximately 140 other Superior Court judges are running unchallenged and so will not appear on the ballot.
Baxter is being challenged by a former temporary commissioner in the Newhall courthouse, Ross A. Stucker. Baxter was the supervising judge of the courthouse several years ago when Stucker was replaced as a temporary commissioner. As a result, some have called the race a grudge match. Neither man will comment on the situation surrounding the replacement of Stucker.
C. Robert Simpson is facing a trial attorney from Glendale named Kenneth E. Wright. Wright says he has no bone to pick with Simpson but simply chose that seat. Simpson, however, has questioned openly why someone who has no issues with his work would seek to unseat him.
The father-and-son team is Donald Renetzky, a Workers' Compensation Appeals Board judge, and his son, Craig Renetzky, a deputy district attorney. The older Renetzky will face off against elder law attorney Joseph "Joe" Deering and county prosecutor Hank Goldberg for the seat of retiring Judge Michael Pirosh. The younger Renetzky faces Larry H. Layton, owner of an unaccredited law school, and fellow prosecutor Richard E. Naranjo in the race for the seat of retiring Judge Richard E. Spann.
Prosecutor Lauren Weis - the only woman in the field of 21 - is running for the seat of retiring Judge Michael A. Kanner against trial attorneys H. Don Christian, Richard A. Espinoza and Robert Harrison.
In other races, State Bar Court Judge Paul A. Bacigalupo, trial attorney David Crawford III, prosecutor David Gelfound and Commissioner Steven Lubell are competing for the seat vacated by retired Judge David B. Finkel.
Last, Workers' Compensation Appeals Board Judge John C. Gutierrez, prosecutor Richard F. Walmark and trial attorney Thomas H. Warden are vying for the seat being vacated by Judge Reginald A. Dunn.
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Erin Carroll
Daily Journal Staff Writer
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