Court Hopefuls Slugging It Out Pekelis, Sanders Trade Shots Over Alleged Ideological Bias

He calls her a liberal career judge beholden to Big Government.

She calls him a dangerous right-winger beholden to special interests.

If Washington Supreme Court Justice Rosselle Pekelis and challenger Richard Sanders keep this up, voters might start paying attention.

The candidates are standing toe to toe, trading enough bare-knuckle punches to sorely test the state’s new relaxed judicial campaign rules.

“Things are heating up,” Pekelis said during a recent campaign stop in Spokane.

“Sizzling” would be more accurate.

Sanders, a 50-year-old Bellevue lawyer with libertarian beliefs, said he wants to represent the private sector on the high court. He views himself as protecting property owners and individuals from over-reaching government.

He has been practicing law for 26 years, with ample experience arguing before state appellate courts. He graduated from the University of Washington and its law school.

Fond of “stirring things up,” he was the first lawyer in the state to advertise, defying a Washington State Bar Association ban. Over the years, he has been a fierce advocate for private property rights.

“Justice Pekelis has a pro-government agenda,” Sanders said. “She does not adequately protect people’s rights, especially when they are in conflict with the government.”

He goes further, accusing Pekelis of building her career through “political patronage and appointments.”

Pekelis was appointed to the King County Superior Court by former Gov. Dixy Lee Ray, to the state Court of Appeals by then-Gov. Booth Gardner and to the Supreme Court by Gov. Mike Lowry.

But after her first two appointments, Pekelis was elected four times by voters.

“I’m proud of the fact that I have been a judge for 15 years,” she said. “There is a general feeling, thank God, that judges are apolitical and are career jurists - career impartial arbiters.”

Pekelis said she strives to be fair in each case and has no agenda.

She accuses Sanders, however, of being anti-government and a fierce advocate for special interests, especially developers.

“He wants to get on the court to favor a political agenda of private property interests,” she said. “He wears his opinions on his sleeve…I really would fear for the state of Washington” if he is elected.

Pekelis, 57, spent five years on the Superior Court bench, starting in 1981, and nine on the Court of Appeals.

The Seattle resident and Italian immigrant started her legal career in 1974, after graduating from the University of Missouri School of Law.

She was appointed last spring to replace Justice Robert Utter, who resigned in protest of the court’s handling of death penalty cases.

While Pekelis has been rated “exceptionally well-qualified” by the King County Bar Association, the same group of lawyers dubbed Sanders “not qualified.”

The job pays $107,200 a year. The winner fills the remaining three years of Utter’s term.

On related matters, Sanders and Pekelis both support a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 7 ballot to elect chief justices. The current method involves a rotation system.

They disagree over a proposal to reduce the court from nine justices to seven.

Pekelis favors the move as a boost to efficiency, while Sanders says the larger court allows for “difference of opinion.”

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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: PROPOSAL TO CUT COURT JUSTICES Washington voters will decide Nov. 7 whether the Supreme Court should be reduced from nine justices to seven through attrition. Proponents say the move would improve efficiency and save money. Critics say a smaller court sacrifices geographic and cultural diversity. The constitutional amendment also clears the way for the court to select its own chief justice every four years. Chiefs now are picked every two years on a random, rotation basis.