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10 Are Endorsed in Nov. 8 Races
EDITORIAL
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ELOW ARE OUR ENDORSEMENTS for offices on the Nov. 8 ballot. We endorse only for an office where a qualification for it is State Bar licensure.
ATTORNEY GENERAL
In the primary, we set forth reasons why we view Attorney General Rob Bonta as unworthy of the office to which he was appointed. We opined that there were “three sound opponents,” including former Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Hochman of the Central District of California, and maintained that “[o]f the three serious challengers, Hochman is arguably the fittest in light of his extensive and impressive background in the criminal justice system.”
Hochman is in the run-off. He has a solid background in law, sound judgment, and the capacity to run a huge law office with both civil and criminal functions. Hochman would attend to the duties of the attorney for the State of California; the incumbent devotes his time differently.
Daily, Bonta’s office issues press releases lionizing Bonta, attributing to him, personally, anything anyone in the office has accomplished, as if he, personally, prosecuted cases. The governmental office goes beyond the legitimate objective of providing information; it spews propaganda.
Many—yes, many—of those press releases tell of Bonta’s views, often stances that are set forth in briefs, that relate to federal matters or controversies in other states.
In ordering preparation of those briefs, Bonta diverts resources of an agency of the State of California to matters outside the state’s reach or its interests, for sake of publicizing himself, and boosting his prospects of graduating to other office, possibly a federal post. Well, it worked for his predecessor, Xavier Becerra, now U.S. secretary of health and human services, and the state A.G. before that has also attained a position of not inconsiderable stature in the federal government. We regard Bonta, in the role of attorney general, as a misfit and an incompetent. Hochman, by contrast, can do the job, and we are confident, could do it quite well.
LOS ANGELES SUPERIOR COURT
There are six run-offs for Superior Court open seats. In four of the races, we endorsed one of the candidates in the primary outright.
As to Office No. 67, we indicated that there were two contestants “well suited for the post”—Deputy District Attorneys Ryan Dibble and Fernanda Maria Barreto—opting for Dibble because, we saw “the scales tipping slightly” in his favor. We said of the third candidate, Elizabeth Ashley-Haynes, who has taken extremist stances such as advocating the defunding of police departments, that she is “worthy of respect” for courage in vocalizing unpopular positions but, as a born advocate, is not the right person for judicial office.
We view Barreto as the better choice, by far, for a judgeship.
With respect to Office No. 118, we lauded Deputy District Attorney Melissa Hammond in the primary as a “bright prosecutor” but related that her colleague and rival Keith Koyano drew higher praise from judges we consulted, and endorsed him. We added: “Should Hammond wind up in a run-off with any of the other contestants, we would urge her election.”
Koyano did not make the run-off, Hammond did, and we do, indeed, urge her election. We discern high potential in her for capable service as a judge. Too, her opponent, Carolyn “Jiyoung” Park, is a lawyer with a practice that barely exists and whose attainments, if any, are unknown (other than her feat of getting into a run-off through deft use of social media in tandem with three other unsuitable candidates including Ashley-Haynes). She has no endorsements by any judges or lawyers.
Our endorsements in the Los Angeles Superior Court races are, this year, made without reservations.
RIVERSIDE, SAN DIEGO SUPERIOR COURTS
We suspect that this newspaper, since its founding in 1901 as the Pacific Veteran Enterprise, has not endorsed before in judicial races outside Los Angeles County. Today we endorse in contests outside our bailiwick because we discern that in Riverside County, one candidate is a stand-out while her opponent decidedly is not, and that in San Diego County, a candidate, who serves as a Superior Court commissioner, if not a perjurer, is an utter fool.
Here are our recommendations:
Attorney General
Nathan Hochman
Los Angeles Superior Court
Office No. 60: Abby Baron
Office No. 67: Fernanda Maria Barreto
Office No. 76: Yolande Chang
Office No. 90: Melissa Lyons
Office No. 118: Melissa Hammond
Office No. 151: Patrick Hare
Riverside Superior Court
Office No. 4: Natalie Lough
San Diego Superior Court
Office No. 36: Pete Murray
Los Angeles City Attorney
Hydee Feldstein Soto
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