Part of winning an election is:" Who you are running against?" Metropolitan News-Enterprise has article about the one Los Angeles Superior Court Judge to draw a challenger. His name Dzintra Janavs.
Would you vote against him because of his name? I remember back in the early 90’s when Armand Arabain was appointed to the State Supreme Court by Deukmejian. He lost confirmation votes in some Republican precincts in the San Gabriel Valley, while the others were winning confirmation. The article alludes to the Murphy vs. Kahn race that happened out here as well. What’s in name? You be the judge. You can access the full article here.
Thursday, April 6, 2006
Page 1
Judicial Elections, Office No.120
20-Year Incumbent With Foreign-Sounding Name Draws Challenge
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The sole Los Angeles Superior Court incumbent to be challenged in the June 6 primary election is Dzintra Janavs, a native of Latvia, who has been a judge for 20 years.
The challenger is Lynn Diane Olson, co-proprietor of a bakery and sandwich shop in Manhattan Beach. Olson has been on active bar status for roughly six of the 16 years she’s been licensed to practice law.
Olson, running a silent and invisible campaign, has launched no criticism of the incumbent.
Speculation is that Olson entered the race because she viewed Janavs as vulnerable to a challenge in light of her foreign-sounding name. Olson has not denied that motivation.
In 1992, little-known attorney Patrick B. Murphy unseated incumbent Abraham Aponte Khan in a Citrus Municipal Court race, with the election outcome generally being attributed solely to Khan’s name being a political drawback.
The race tests the strength of the ballot designation of “Judge of the Superior Court” in a context in which it has not previously been tested.
Janavs has hired the political consulting firm of Cerrell Associates, Inc. and will be holding fundraisers, while the challenger has said she will not spent even as much as $1,000.