Every judge on California's November 3 ballot

Every Californian votes Yes or No on two Supreme Court justices and on the Court of Appeal justices for their district (64 justices in total; each voter sees only their own district). Only three counties have contested Superior Court races this year: Los Angeles (4 races), Fresno (2) and Riverside (1). All seven are open seats, so no sitting trial judge is being challenged. The list comes from the California Secretary of State's certified judicial candidate list and county election results.

Each profile is organized around four questions. Are they qualified? See their experience and any outside rating. For justices, that is the State Bar commission's rating, given when they were appointed, not for this election. For LA candidates, it is the LA County Bar Association's rating for this election. These ratings are the bar groups' assessments, not Trellis's. How have they conducted themselves? See public discipline and controversies. How do they rule? See notable rulings, tagged by topic, and sample rulings from their time as a trial judge, written in plain English. Where can I learn more? Every ruling links to the opinion, the Trellis record or news coverage.

Trial court material comes from Trellis, the largest legal research platform for state trial courts, which collects and organizes state trial court records into profiles of judges and attorneys. For each justice who served as a trial judge, we show sample rulings they wrote, a plain-English summary of their record, and the underlying figures (motion grant rate, case length, time to trial, caseload mix) compared with county and statewide averages. Each profile links to the full Trellis record and shows the date it was last updated.

Motions granted is the share of requests the judge approved. It matters most for motions to dismiss and summary judgment: granting them usually ends a case without a trial. A judge above the county average on those ends more cases early; below it, more cases go toward trial.

Average case length and time to trial show how long cases took in the judge's courtroom. For the people in those cases, time matters: longer cases usually mean higher legal costs and a longer wait for a decision. Differences between judges often reflect case complexity and assignment rather than speed alone.

Caseload mix shows what kinds of cases the judge has handled, such as injury, family, business or criminal. It's the best indicator of where their hands-on experience lies, and it explains most of the differences in the other numbers. No single figure measures a judge's quality or philosophy, so read these alongside the rulings and outside ratings.

Criminal cases are the main blind spot. Trellis coverage of criminal dockets is limited, and juvenile and dependency records are largely confidential. That matters here: 12 of the 14 Superior Court candidates practice mainly criminal law, and several justices spent their trial careers in criminal or juvenile courts. For lawyer candidates, the Trellis results reflect civil cases only. A short or empty record does not mean an attorney lacks experience; it usually means their work happened in courts this data does not reach. Justices who were never trial judges, or whose trial service predates the data, have no trial record to show.

We withheld or labeled figures that did not meet a basic quality check: motion types with small samples, rates that appear to be capped placeholders, and records where the county or judge on file did not match. Where a county comparison was unreliable, we compare to the statewide average only and say so on the profile. Sample rulings were read in full before summarizing, and private individuals are described generically.

Backgrounds, notable rulings, bar evaluations and endorsements come from court biographies, governor's appointment announcements, bar association ratings and news coverage, linked on each profile. Where a ruling's authorship comes from news reports rather than the opinion itself, we say so. Rulings are summarized in plain English; read the linked sources for the full picture. This guide does not recommend a vote.