Schaller and Johnson lead in Superior Court judgeship race

Thurston County Superior Court Commissioner Christine Schaller and Assistant Attorney General Jim Johnson are the two leading primary candidates for the vacant Position 2 Thurston County Superior Court judgeship, early election results show.

And the three-way race for the vacant Position 4 judgeship is too close to call, according to election figures from the Thurston County Auditor’s Office. Erik Price, a shareholder at the Olympia law firm Lane Powell, was ahead in the Position 4 race with 33.6 percent of the vote, and Thurston County Superior Court Commissioner Indu Thomas was running second with 33.3 percent. Local attorney Allen Miller was third with 32.7 percent, early election results show.

Price, in a phone interview after the early primary results were in about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night, said: “We’re happy to be ahead, but heavens it’s early.”

The next vote count is 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Added Thomas, “it’s too close to call. We’re just going to be waiting until tomorrow.” Thomas, a Thurston County Superior Court Commissioner, hears juvenile criminal cases and civil cases involving family and child-custody matters.

Miller, who formerly worked with the Washington Attorney General’s Office, the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and is now in private practice, agreed.  “I think it’s much too early to say anything,” he said. Miller is a member of the Olympia School Board.

In the Superior Court judicial races, the top two vote-getters in the primary move on to the Nov. 6 general election, unless a candidate wins 50 percent or more of the votes. No one has received 50 percent in this election.

Schaller came in first in the race for the vacant Position 2 judgeship with 48.3 percent of the vote. Johnson came in second with 22.2 percent. Marie Clarke, who heads the Torts Division for the Washington Attorney General’s Office, came in third with 17.7 percent, and Assistant Attorney General Victor Minjares came in fourth, with 11.5 percent.

Like Thomas, Schaller hears criminal cases involving juveniles and civil cases involving divorces and child-custody matters in her current post as Thurston County Superior Court Commissioner.

During Schaller’s campaign, several of her opponents, including Johnson, took issue with the fact she lives in Pierce County. Johnson, who has represented the Department of Labor and Industries for the A.G.’s office for the past 18 years, indicated Tuesday night that he will probably be involved in a pending legal challenge to Schaller’s name being included on the ballot in the Nov. 6 general election.

Johnson and others have said that Schaller should not be allowed to run because of a state law requiring candidates for elected office to live in the county in which they wish to serve.

However, before Schaller filed as a candidate for the primary, she received notice from the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office that it would not oppose her candidacy on residency grounds. In its decision not to oppose Schaller’s candidacy, the prosecuting attorney’s civil division cited a 1986 opinion by its office stating that the state constitution does not have residency requirements for Superior Court judges.

Johnson and the local attorney who filed the original petition against Schaller, Vicki Lee Parker, have said they will not miss procedural deadlines when a challenge is filed to keep Schaller’s name off the ballot in the general election.

On Tuesday night, Schaller said she was encouraged that primary voters recognized her long history as a Thurston County resident. She said she was born in Olympia, still works here, and has lived here most of her life. “I’m very thankful to the voters of Thurston County for their confidence in me,” Schaller said. She has said the only reason she moved to Pierce County is because of a “commuting compromise” with her husband, who works in Seattle.

Added Schaller on Tuesday night, “I have been confident all along that I am correct on the law and if I was not, I never would have run in the first place.”

Johnson has said that one of the reasons he ran against Schaller was that she was flouting the state’s residency requirement for candidates. “I think it’s important that judges follow the law,” Johnson said in a prior interview.

On Tuesday night, Johnson said he is happy with his strong showing. “I’m grateful for what confidence people in Thurston County have given me.”