EVERETT — Both candidates vying for a seat on the Snohomish County Superior Court bench hadn’t expected to run a campaign this year.
They knew that Judge Thomas Wynne planned to seek re-election even though the state Constitution would have forced him to leave office at the end of 2018, when he turns 75. Lawyers made plans to seek the appointment once Wynne retired. That all changed when a Seattle public defender challenged Wynne in the August primary.
Wynne, the most senior jurist on the bench, opted to withdraw from the nonpartisan race and threw his support behind Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Cindy Larsen, his former law clerk.
Rico Tessandore, who ran for judge in 2009, also filed once it was clear that Wynne was being challenged.
Larsen led in the primary, receiving 44.8 percent of the vote. Tessandore finished with 34.1 percent.
Tessandore, a former Snohomish County deputy prosecutor, has spent $144,794 to Larsen’s $23,198.
He’s supported by public defenders and private attorneys. Tessandore, who is married to a private defense attorney, came out on top of the Snohomish County Bar Association’s poll, with 178 lawyers voting out of the 623 that were eligible to cast a ballot.
Tessandore also earned endorsements by the county’s Democrat and Republican parties and received high rankings in several judicial evaluations conducted by various legal groups, such as the Washington Women Lawyers and the Joint Asian Bar Association.
Larsen didn’t ask to be evaluated. She said she chose not to seek evaluations because she didn’t have time. She said she wasn’t aware that the Washington Women Lawyers were putting together an evaluation until about a month ago. She didn’t think she’d have the financial ability to get the information to voters once the results came out.
“Had I known that Rico’s campaign was going to be so intensely focused on what I do and don’t do, rather than focusing on his own qualifications, I might have decided differently,” Larsen said.
Both candidates have support from the current Superior Court bench.
Larsen, who is married to a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy, earned endorsements from local law enforcement, including Snohomish County Sheriff Ty Trenary and many police unions. She also is endorsed by her boss, Snohomish County Prosecutor Mark Roe and county Executive Dave Somers.
It’s been a bumpy introduction into politics for the first-time candidate. Larsen has been at the center of a campaign finance complaint, stemming from her participation in a mailer that was sent out before the August primary in support of a countywide sales tax initiative.
The initiative failed but two county residents filed a complaint with state Public Disclosure Commission, alleging Larsen failed to properly report an in-kind contribution worth thousands of dollars. Larsen’s photograph was on the mailer sent to thousands of voters, although it didn’t identify her as a judicial candidate.
The state Attorney General’s Office earlier this month filed a complaint against Larsen. The complaint came after Robert Schiffner, a Moses Lake attorney and Tessandore’s friend, filed a citizen action notice with the office. That forced Attorney General Bob Ferguson to take action in some fashion or Schiffner would have been able to pursue legal action against Larsen.
Larsen said her participation in the mailer was last minute.
“Had I had more time to really study campaign finance law, I would have stayed away from what I perceive is a gray area,” she said. “I’m typically a cautious person. I tend to steer clear of what could be perceived as contrary to the law.”
In her response to the Attorney General’s complaint, Larsen pointed out that once she was made aware of the issue in late July, she asked the Public Disclosure Commission to assist her in calculating the dollar amount of the mailer so she could report the contribution. She said she still hasn’t received any help. She also said that there is no evidence that the mailer benefited her campaign.
Larsen said she “expects to work with the Attorney General’s Office toward a quick resolution to this issue.”
Larsen has been with the prosecutor’s office since 1997. She’s worked in the criminal division, prosecuting felonies and misdemeanors. She also was the lead prosecutor in the county’s juvenile court.
Larsen, 46, also spent time in the civil division, providing legal counsel to the county in municipal matters, including employment and public disclosure law. She represented the county’s designated mental health providers during involuntary treatment cases.
Larsen, of Everett, said her courtroom and trial experience set her apart from her opponent. She is well-versed in the rules of evidence and will have the ability to make informed decisions quickly, she said.
Larsen would like to see the expansion of the county’s current mental health court, and she would advocate for a similar program in Superior Court, she said.
Mental health and the heroin use are two of the biggest issues facing the criminal justice system, she said. Larsen said she supports treatment alternatives for people living with mental illnesses and drug addictions as a way to “limit their exposure to the criminal justice system and reduce costs.”
Larsen also said she’d look forward to working in the juvenile courts again. “I like that there is hope for the kids involved in the system,” she said. There is an opportunity to make a positive impact in the lives of young people, Larsen added.
Tessandore also has worked on behalf of young people, routinely being appointed as a guardian ad litem to oversee settlements awarded to minors.
Tessandore, 45, runs a private practice with offices in Lynnwood and Bellingham. Before he opened his own office, he worked for a Bellevue law firm providing in-house counsel for an insurance company. Tessandore, of Everett, also practiced criminal defense work for about a year. He was a Snohomish County deputy prosecutor from 2000 to 2005.
Tessandore has worked as a pro tem judge in Superior, District and Municipal courts for 10 years. He said his experience on the bench gives him the edge over his opponent.
“I have civil and criminal trial experience,” Tessandore said. “I have a background in all areas of the law.”
Tessandore pointed out that Superior Court judges spend the majority of their time presiding over civil matters, such as child dependency cases, divorces and lawsuits. Less than 20 percent of the filings are criminal, Tessandore said.
“We need a person with vast civil experience, not someone who has worked for one employer their entire career,” Tessandore said. “We need someone with experience of seeing all sides of an issue.”
Tessandore said his work on the Sno-Isle Libraries Board of Trustees also gives him budget and planning experience that will help carry the court forward.
He would advocate re-examining the discovery rules in Superior Court, Tessandore said. In Snohomish County, there are no local court rules that limit the amount of some types of discovery that can be requested by civil litigants.
“The court rules involving discovery have not been updated in 30 years,” he said.
Tessandore said as a judge he’d favor looking at what is working in other counties to make civil cases more affordable to litigants and more workable for lawyers.
“Litigation shouldn’t be a game of ‘gotcha,’ ” he said.
Tessandore said he’s eager to serve the community. He was raised by a single mother who taught him to work for a higher good, he said.
A judicial race may not garner the kind of attention that other races do, Tessandore said. “I hope voters will make it all the way through the voter’s pamphlet,” he said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
SNOHOMISH COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE POSITION 3 CANDIDATES:
Cindy Larsen
Age: 46
Residence: Everett
Website: www.cindylarsenforjudge.com
• • •
Rico Tessandore
Age: 45
Residence: Everett
Website: www.ricoforjudge.com
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