Snohomish County judge candidates want to bring transparency to court

EVERETT — Only one seat on the Snohomish County Superior Court is up for election this year.

The incumbent, Judge Whitney Rivera, is a former public defender who served three years as the presiding judge on the Edmonds Municipal Court. In March, Gov. Jay Inslee appointed her to the Superior Court bench. She started work there in May.

Her opponent, Mary Anderson, has presided over 1,700 cases as a judge pro tem — a temporary judge — in Snohomish County District Court.

Anderson ran for another seat on the Snohomish County Superior Court bench last year, losing to Patrick Moriarty. She received 45% of the vote.

The race is nonpartisan.

Superior Court judges rule on civil matters, domestic relations, felony criminal cases, juvenile matters and appeals from lower courts. To qualify for the position, candidates must be authorized to practice law in Washington. Superior Court judges serve a four-year term and are paid $228,261 per year. The county and state split that salary.

Mary Anderson

Anderson, 50, was born in California but spent much of her childhood in Snohomish County. Law is her third career — she owned construction and mortgage brokerage firms before becoming a lawyer.

Anderson has practiced law for 14 years. She has argued cases in state and federal court, as well as in front of the state Supreme Court. As a judge pro tem, she said, she has presided over a variety of civil and criminal cases, ranging from small claims cases to misdemeanor sexual assault cases and more. If elected, she would be the first Black woman to serve in Snohomish County Superior Court.

Anderson said her 25 years as a business owner and experience in civil and criminal law makes her qualified for the job.

“The breadth of my experience is unmatched,” Anderson said. “I don’t think there has ever been a judicial candidate with my experience before.”

In her time as a temp judge, Anderson said she learned many individuals don’t understand the procedural processes that happen in a courtroom. She hopes to increase community education by opening her courtroom four times a year for questions and doing outreach at community events.

“My goal and my desire is to open up my courtroom every quarter to bring the community in and ask them, ‘Hey, what’s working? What’s not? What can we do as a judiciary to serve you better?’” Anderson said. “Because remember, judges serve the people, not the other way around.”

Anderson said she was also in favor of asking state legislators to increase pay for jurors who have financial hardships to increase fairness in trials. Currently, jurors in Snohomish County are paid $10 per day. A new pilot program in Pierce County will pay jurors $100 per day through next May. Findings from the program will be presented to lawmakers in 2026, along with potential recommendations for a permanent adjustment to juror pay.

“Everyone just wants a fair trial,” Anderson said. “How can we have a fair trial if we really don’t have a jury of our peers?”

To keep her rulings impartial, Anderson said she made it a policy to not seek endorsements for her campaign.

Endorsements are common practice in judicial races. She previously accepted endorsements while running for Superior Court in 2023.

“Voters should choose me because I am the candidate that brings a wealth of knowledge and experience and qualifications from different areas of law and lived experiences,” Anderson said. “I will always uphold the law and the constitution equally without a biased lens, as I have demonstrated through my commitment to serving the people of Snohomish County and not the political landscape.”

Anderson had reported $19,972 in campaign contributions, as of Tuesday.

Whitney Rivera

Rivera, 44, is seeking her first full term on the bench. She first worked as a law clerk in 2006 for Judge Anita Farris, whose retirement this year opened the door for Rivera to fill the seat.

After working as a clerk, Rivera worked as a trial public defender for seven years at the Snohomish County Public Defender Association. She then became an appellate public defender at the Washington Appellate Project for a year before returning to the county public defender association to work as the misdemeanor supervisor, in charge of hiring, recruiting and mentoring new attorneys, as well as taking on trial work.

In 2020, she was appointed as the sole judge for the Edmonds Municipal Court and successfully won re-election to a four-year term in 2021 before being appointed to Superior Court.

Rivera is the first woman of Asian American Pacific Islander descent to serve in Snohomish County Superior Court.

Her experience watching a family member with a substance abuse disorder deal with the legal system, along with representing thousands of clients as a public defender, helped her “develop a sense of empathy for people that I try to bring to the bench every day,” Rivera said.

“My time as a public defender shaped a lot of my decisions about my career and what I wanted to do as a Superior Court judge,” she said. “I lived in that courthouse for almost 14 years and I still bring those experiences to the bench, my jury trial experience, as well. Just listening to people, talking to people, understanding what it’s like being terrified to go in front of a judge and have them make really important decisions that impact your life, I take all of that really seriously, I think about it a lot.”

In her five months serving on the Superior Court bench, Rivera said she has heard cases regarding a variety of legal issues, including topics like contract enforcement and the reasonableness of medical expenses following car crashes. She said working alongside the other judges — including her longtime partner, presiding Judge Paul Thompson — has helped expand her knowledge of the law.

“I feel like I’ve learned a lot from my colleagues, not just thinking the way that I think of things, but expanding it, being like ‘That’s actually an excellent point,’” Rivera said. “I’m learning from my colleagues that come from all different backgrounds as well.”

Rivera’s campaign has received hundreds of endorsements from elected officials, organizations, attorneys and members of the judicial system, including seven state Supreme Court justices and 25 current and former Snohomish County Superior Court judges. She said endorsements do not impact her rulings.

“Endorsements help inform voters. It is humbling to know that those who have observed my work as a judge firsthand support me in continuing to serve our community,” Rivera said in an email. “The Code of Judicial Conduct explicitly provides that a judicial candidate in a nonpartisan election may seek, accept, and use endorsements from any person or organization. I cannot think of a sitting judge or judicial candidate in Snohomish County in recent history who has not sought, accepted, or used endorsements. My extensive list of endorsements does not impact the fair and impartial way that I make decisions on the bench every day.”

Outside of her work on the bench, Rivera hopes to increase community interaction with the Superior Court. The court recently hosted a legal financial obligation relief day, with Rivera signing over 130 orders waiving fines and fees for indigent individuals who had debt that was previously mandatory, she said. She also volunteers teaching an introduction to law course at Everett High School and supports increasing jury diversity by upping juror pay and providing childcare options.

Rivera had reported $96,169 in campaign contributions, as of Tuesday.

Ballots are due Nov. 5.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.