Contests for Superior Court rare

Spokane County election manager Paul Brandt looked back through several years of records before scrapping his search for a time when anyone challenged a Superior Court judge.

“It’s very rare that an incumbent judge is challenged in Superior Court,” Brandt said.

That will change Tuesday, when two judges face opposition from attorneys.

Judge Sam Cozza faces politically active attorney Steve Eugster while Judge Greg Sypolt is challenged by assistant public defender Michael Elston.

In addition, three candidates are seeking the empty seat created by the retirement of Judge Paul Bastine. That race pits two experienced candidates, Harold Clarke III and Joe Valente, and a relative newcomer to Spokane’s legal community, Gail Schwartz.

By state law, candidates in Superior Court races who receive 50 percent of the vote in the primary are automatically elected, so the two-way races will almost certainly be settled Tuesday. The top two vote-getters in the three-way race advance to the November general election.

Here’s a breakdown of the races:

Position 6

Cozza, the incumbent, is a lifelong Spokane resident and first generation American. His father immigrated to Spokane from Italy in 1947, his mother in 1953.

“I grew up with people who didn’t speak English as their primary language,” Cozza said.

Cozza graduated from Gonzaga University in 1977 and received a law degree from the University of Washington Law School in 1980. He started his legal practice in 1981. He won a seat for the Spokane District Court in 1990 and was elected Superior Court judge in 1996. At the request of the state Supreme Court, he was one of three Superior Court judges asked to write the state speedy-trial rules.

“I’m doing a solid job for the community,” Cozza said, adding that his decisions are upheld 90 percent of the time in the state Court of Appeals.

“I’m real proud of the fact that I have an 8-and-0 record on the state Supreme Court,” Cozza said.

High-profile supporters include Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker and the Spokane Police Guild.

Cozza’s challenger, former Spokane City Councilman Eugster, contends that the legal system is slipping in quality and that court rules are applied inconsistently by the current crop of judges.

“When you go to court, you find you cannot predict what the court is going to do. The court does not adhere to the rule of law,” Eugster said.

Eugster said more veteran lawyers should run against incumbent judges. He told a group of legal workers Thursday at a bar association lunch that people fear they will somehow be punished for challenging a judge for office.

Part of the problem is that so many local attorneys have graduated from Gonzaga’s law school and they’re reluctant to call one another into question, Eugster said.

“We don’t have enough diversity or broad intellectual training on the bench or in the bar,” Eugster said.

Position 8

Of the three contenders, Clarke is a judge and Valente is a court commissioner. Schwartz started her own law practice after graduating from Gonzaga Law School in 1998.

Clarke was born and raised in Spokane and is the son of a retired Superior Court judge. He did 18 years of private practice before he won a three-way race to the Spokane County District Court in 1998.

Clarke points to his reputation with attorneys.

“Lawyers don’t have to guess about myself,” Clarke said. “They’ve seen me in court for the last six years.”

He added, “As a judge, you always have to work hard each and every day, treat people appropriately, listen hard and come up with the proper decision.”

This is Valente’s first race for the bench. He was raised on the East Coast and worked as executive director of Spokane Legal Services Center before his appointment as Spokane County’s Superior Court commissioner 20 years ago.

Valente said retiring Judge Bastine asked him personally to run and fill his position.

As a judge, Bastine heard the evidence Valente processed. Bastine also watched how Valente analyzed and applied the law as commissioner.

“He became very familiar with my work product over the years,” Valente said.

Schwartz concedes that her two opponents have her beat in terms of legal experience, but says she brings a lot of life experience – as a former waitress who attended law school and started a second career – to help her better understand the community she’d serve on the bench.

“I’m a working mother. I’m Japanese (-American). I’ve lived through a lot,” she said.

Her practice focused on family law with some bankruptcy and personal injury cases.

Position 11

Sypolt, the incumbent, has endorsements from Sheriff Mark Sterk, the Spokane Police Guild and 11 Spokane County Superior Court judges.

“I’m very pleased by all the support I received,” Sypolt said. “I’m very humbled and gratified by that.”

Sypolt’s election strategy has focused on educating people about his record.

His biggest challenge, if re-elected, would be to continue to improve court services and continue to be involved with statewide judicial committees. Sypolt said he’s committed to promoting diversity in court, including improved efforts to diversify the legal community.

Sypolt’s challenger, Elston, is an assistant public defender for Spokane County who graduated from Gonzaga Law School in 1995.

Elston admitted it will be difficult to unseat a sitting judge with a wealth of support.

“Part of the problem with the entire process is the current manner of evaluating judges,” Elston said. “If you’re running against someone, it falls upon you as the challenger to essentially flirt with mud-slinging with what someone else may or may not be doing wrong.”

Elston said he focused his campaign on what he would bring to the job. If elected, he’d like a more objective and public process to evaluate judicial rulings. He would prefer a system that evenly applies court rules, which he believes are enforced inconsistently.

“Even if I don’t win, I look at this as an opportunity to get involved with the system,” Elston said.