WA State Supreme Court race has air of partisanship

Paul Queary; The Associated Press
The News Tribune

Washington State - 10/29/02 - One Nov. 5 race for the state Supreme Court pits a veteran assistant attorney general against a seasoned appellate lawyer in a nonpartisan battle rich with partisan overtones.

The other race features an outsider trying to oust one of the court's most senior justices - once an outsider himself.

Most attention has focused on the race for the seat opened by the retirement of Charles Z. Smith, the nine-member court's only black justice. Mary Fairhurst, a former Supreme Court clerk and longtime official in the attorney general's office, faces Jim Johnson, a colorful appellate lawyer with a penchant for hot-button issues.

Johnson and Fairhurst ran neck and neck in the September primary, with King County Superior Court Justice Michael Spearman - the prerace favorite - a distant third.

In the other contested race, incumbent Justice Charles Johnson is trying to fend off a challenge by Pam Loginsky, a staff lawyer with the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. Loginsky won nearly 37 percent of the vote to Johnson's 39 percent in a three-way primary, forcing a November runoff. Steve Alexander, a part-time judge in Kitsap and Mason counties, is a late entry to the race, running as a write-in candidate for Johnson's position.

Elsewhere on the ballot, Justice Bobbe Bridge is running unopposed.

The court's fundamental makeup will change no matter who wins. If either Fairhurst or Loginsky wins, women would have a majority. And Smith's retirement means the high court will have nine white justices for the first time since his 1988 appointment.

Although races for the court are theoretically nonpartisan, the Fairhurst-Jim Johnson matchup breaks down almost along party lines.

Johnson has defended Tim Eyman's anti-tax initiatives, fought against tribal claims on private and public lands and battled to keep Washington's blanket primary election system alive. He has the backing of the state Republican Party and big financial support from the Building Industry of Washington, a force in GOP politics.

"The court is where we will have the opportunity to gain the most significant victories as far as rolling back overly intrusive rules and regulations," said Erin Shannon, a spokeswoman for the builders association, which put $50,000 more into Johnson's campaign earlier this month. "Sometimes we've lost important cases that would really impact the home-building industry by one vote."

Johnson also is endorsed by former Republican U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton; Lt. Gov. Brad Owen and state Auditor Brian Sonntag, both Democrats; Justice Richard Sanders, the Supreme Court's libertarian maverick; the Washington Farm Bureau; and the National Rifle Association.

Fairhurst is drawing support from labor groups, environmentalists and other typically Democratic constituencies that mostly sided with Spearman in the primary.

While they praise Fairhurst, they're mostly worried about having Johnson on the court.

"Jim Johnson, we think, is a very divisive anti-labor candidate, which is kind of unusual for a Supreme Court race," said David Groves, spokesman for the Washington State Labor Council, who cites Johnson's work in defense of Initiative 134's limitations on the use of union dues for political purposes.

Fairhurst's endorsement list includes Democratic Gov. Gary Locke; former Govs. Dan Evans, Booth Gardner and Mike Lowry; and five of the sitting members of the Supreme Court. She also has the backing of the Washington Education Association and Washington Conservation Voters.

Johnson argues that the race shouldn't be viewed through "partisan sunglasses" but instead as a traditional debate over experience, qualifications and endorsements. The hundreds of cases he's argued before state and federal appellate courts and his proven dedication to the Washington Constitution should speak loudest, Johnson said.

"This is not a partisan race," Johnson said. "It really has never been. That's why they put us clear down at the bottom of the ballot."

Fairhurst takes a similar nonpartisan tack, saying her years as a Supreme Court clerk, assistant attorney general and bar association activist give her solid credentials.

"People are very comfortable with my reputation for working well with others and being fair and impartial," Fairhurst said.

In the court's other race, Loginsky bristles at the notion that her strong showing in the September primary was the result of drawing votes from women by default in a judicial election that had attracted little attention.

"That is a pretty benighted or sexist viewpoint," Loginsky said. "Many opinions from the court recently are out of step with what most Washingtonians think."

Loginsky's financial support and endorsements come mostly from prosecutors, and much of her criticism of the court stems from the court's rulings and rules related to criminal prosecution.

"It's too often substituting its judgment for that of the people and their elected legislators," Loginsky said of the court.

She's hoping that the same kind of anti-incumbent sentiment that swept incumbent Charles Johnson into office 12 years ago will sweep him out. Without judicial experience, Johnson ousted a sitting justice by running on the populist appeal of his one-man legal practice.

Johnson, meanwhile, contends he still has the common touch, but with the added experience of ruling on roughly 1,500 cases and writing about 250 decisions as a member of the high court.

"Can an outsider join the court and make a difference?" said Johnson, who calls Loginsky a one-dimensional candidate without the breadth of experience necessary for the court. "Certainly. I've proven that. But it takes time."

Johnson's incumbency helped him build a $100,000 war chest, more than seven times the size of Loginsky's.

Alexander, a judge pro tem in Kitsap and Mason counties, filed as a write-in candidate for Johnson's position. He is backed by former GOP gubernatorial candidate Ellen Craswell, who said Alexander's stance against abortion is an alternative to Johnson and Loginsky, who describe themselves as supporters of abortion rights.

The Bremerton attorney has a bachelor's degree from the University of Vermont and a law degree from Boston College. The Army veteran was a clerk and bailiff for King County Superior Court in 1970-71 and worked for the Kitsap County Prosecutor's Office from 1971 to 1980.