Two men who are challenging sitting judges for election have some work to do to make themselves known to the Snohomish County legal community, but one of them scored more overall points than a three-term incumbent in a poll of lawyers.
Challengers Eric Lucas and Michael Hall scored a large number of “unknown” votes in the Snohomish County Bar Association poll done in advance of the Sept. 14 primary election.
Lucas got a higher overall score than Superior Court Judge David Hulbert in the voting by 176 lawyers.
That’s about 31 percent of the eligible attorneys, association executive director Joyce Wood said.
The association normally conducts a poll of attorneys in advance of a contested judicial election or when there’s a vacancy to fill by appointment.
Lucas, 49, a state administrative appeals judge from Everett, is waging a campaign against Hulbert, 52, of Lake Stevens. Hulbert has been on the bench or 12 years. The two are in contention for Position 8.
That race and the race for Position 13 will be decided in the primary.
Lucas finished with 277 points to Hulbert’s 251.
Judge Michael Downes, 52, of Everett, received the highest rating overall, garnering 343 points. Under the poll’s scoring, the most any candidate could receive was 352 points.
Gov. Gary Locke appointed Downes to the bench in July to fill the vacancy created when Judge Charles French died of pneumonia.
Downes served nearly 21 years in the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, working as an administrator and a trial lawyer. He was an assistant chief deputy prosecutor when he was appointed to the bench.
Hall, 52, is a general practice lawyer from Edmonds who is challenging the new judge. He drew the lowest point total, 185.
Voting lawyers were asked to rate the candidates in both races with a “first” or “second” preference. Two points were allotted for a first preference, one for a second. Under the scoring scheme, the least a candidate could receive was 176 points.
In addition, the attorneys were asked to rate all four candidates as excellent, good, average, poor or unknown.
Lucas had 81 “unknown” votes, and Hall 83.
Meanwhile, Downes topped the list with 122 “excellent” votes, compared with only three for his opponent, Hall. Hulbert had 27 “excellent” votes, and Lucas 21.
In the “poor” category, Downes got only one vote. Hall got 71, Hulbert got 77 and Lucas got 17.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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