Lone local judge race: Defense attorney vs. deputy prosecutor
EVERETT — A judge seated on the bench tends to stay on the bench at 3000 Rockefeller Ave.
Of the 15 judicial positions up for election in Snohomish County Superior Court, just one was contested. It’s the race to replace retiring Judge Eric Lucas.
If the pattern holds, the victor could remain a judge for much longer than the initial four-year term.
Lucas has endorsed Robert K. Grant, 38, a career prosecutor, to be his successor for the nonpartisan position.
Cassandra Lopez-Shaw, 52, is running to be the county’s first Latina judge and the first woman of non-European heritage. She received 44.6% of votes last year in a campaign against Judge Paul Thompson, a former public defender who was running to keep his appointed seat.
She said she made her decision to try again last December, before she knew Grant would be pursuing the position, too.
“Last year,” Lopez-Shaw said, “I felt some animosity because people were mad that a defense attorney would run against a defense attorney. But I tried to explain to people nobody’s going to wait for me. Nobody’s going to step aside and say, ‘It’s Cassandra’s turn this time.’ I’m always going to have to run against somebody. Because that’s how it works to be a person of color.”
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/lone-local-judge-race-deputy-prosecutor-vs-defense-attorney/
