King County Superior Court -- It's Almost No Contest As Schapira Keeps Bench

The highest-profile race among the nine King County Superior Court judgeships up for grabs in yesterday's primary turned into a cakewalk for the incumbent.

Judge Carol Schapira handily defeated Mark Livas, the disgruntled litigant-lawyer who filed against her after she ruled against him in a divorce case.

Her margin of victory - she clobbered him nearly 4 to 1 - was the widest of any two-way Superior Court contest.

"It was a high-visibility race for better or for worse," Schapira said last night. "It's thrilling to have a big victory."

Like Schapira, three other incumbents who ran for re-election - George Finkle, Jerome Johnson and James McCutcheon - fought off challengers to hold onto their seats.

And in three other two-way races for open seats to replace retiring judges, the results of yesterday's primary determined the winner.

But in two other races with multiple contestants, no single candidate emerged with a majority, meaning those races will be settled in the general election.

First, the winners:

Position No. 2: Taking more than two-thirds of the vote, Harriet Cody, a 47-year-old Seattle attorney specializing in family law and estate planning, defeated Michael Anderson, 38, who is in-house counsel for an environmental-waste-management firm and for a laser-disk company.

Position No. 14: With roughly 60 percent of the vote, Brian Gain, 46, presiding judge in King County District Court, defeated

James Lobsenz, 38, a prominent Seattle attorney handling criminal defense, personal-injury and civil-rights cases.

Position No. 16: Michael Hayden, 43, a Seattle insurance defense lawyer, narrowly defeated Zanetta Fontes, 40, an assistant city attorney in Renton.

Position No. 18: With about 60 percent of the vote, incumbent Judge Jerome Johnson beat Seattle trial attorney Howard Todd.

Position No. 28: This was the race in which Schapira defeated Livas, whose grievances regarding her handling of his divorce case will likely be the subject of future court hearings.

Position No. 31: Incumbent George Finkle took about 60 percent of the vote to defeat Bellevue attorney John Costo.

Position No. 37: Longtime incumbent James McCutcheon defeated Seattle attorney Helga Karr.

And now for the runoffs:

In the contest to succeed retiring Judge Warren Chan, Jo Anne Alumbaugh, a former Kittitas County Superior Court judge, finished first with 44 percent of the vote. The three other contenders finished in very close order, but Alumbaugh's opponent in the general election will be William Garling, an assistant state attorney general, who ran second with nearly 20 percent of the vote.

Eliminated in the primary were William Ellis, a state Court of Appeals commissioner who finished just a few votes ahead of Will Patton, an assistant Seattle city attorney. Both received 18 percent of the vote.

And in the race to fill the vacancy created by Judge Peter Steere's retirement, Seattle family-law attorney Marilyn Sellers finished first, with just under 50 percent of the vote. If absentee ballots push her past the 50 percent mark, she becomes the winner.

Otherwise, she will face Jay White, a Seattle general-practice lawyer who received almost 34 percent of the vote. Eliminated was Michael Danko, a Seattle private attorney who got about 17 percent of the vote.

The advancing candidacies of Sellers and Alumbaugh surprised some observers, especially in view of the relatively low rankings both women received from the Seattle King County Bar Association's 18-member evaluation committee.

Sellers, 60, was rated "not qualified," and Alumbaugh was rated "adequate." Those ratings were the lowest in their respective races.