Robinson launches campaign for judgeship

Lolita Harper and Byron de Arakal

COSTA MESA -- A little more than a year after her surprise election to

the City Council, Karen Robinson announced Tuesday she is launching a

late-hour write-in campaign to unseat Orange County Superior Court Judge

Ronald C. Kline.

“I have always wanted to be a judge,” Robinson said. “The question has

always been a matter of when to run or to seek an appointment by applying

for a position with the governor.”

The timing issue -- launching a write-in candidacy just 13 months into

her first term on the City Council -- is not an indication that Robinson

is dissatisfied or frustrated with her council experience or her elected

colleagues, she said.

“If I had some dissatisfaction,” Robinson said, “I would have been a

candidate outright. The evidence is that I did not intend to run, or else

I would have chosen an easier way than what I’m doing.”

Robinson, 38, said she will remain on the City Council during the

campaign but would resign if she were to win.

Her announcement had mixed reaction among her council colleagues.

“It’s something she has always dreamed about, and I wish her all the

best,” Mayor Linda Dixon said.

Councilman Gary Monahan also expressed his support, saying residents

should be proud of “one of their own” if Robinson wins the election.

Her success could make the City Council race “messy,” Monahan said. He

and Dixon are both up for reelection in November, but Monahan has said he

will not run again, leaving his seat up for grabs. In addition,

Councilman Chris Steel is facing criminal forgery charges that could

force him to step down. If Robinson also leaves, it is possible that

three seats would be open, with only Dixon fighting for reelection.

“If she succeeds in getting elected, the Costa Mesa dais may get a

little spacious,” Monahan said.

Councilwoman Libby Cowan said Robinson’s announcement shocked her,

especially as local attorney and former Daily Pilot columnist Gay

Geiser-Sandoval will also be vying for the judicial position.

Robinson, who is an attorney in the Cal State University system, has a

little less than eight weeks to generate the support of political and

organizational leaders in the county, as well as name recognition among

voters.

That’s a tall -- if not impossible -- task, says one political

consultant, noting that few voters pay attention to judicial elections

and that write-in campaigns for any office are notoriously difficult to

pull off.

Kline -- who is unopposed on the March 5 ballot -- faces a slew of

federal charges alleging that he possessed more than 100 images of child

pornography, many of them stored on his home computer. The 61-year-old

pleaded not guilty to the counts in federal court Dec. 4.

“I wish her well,” said Eileen Padberg, a veteran political

consultant. Nevertheless, Padberg said Robinson’s chances were nearly

“zero” because “in Orange County, incumbents win regardless. Even if

they’re indicted, they win.”

Robinson acknowledged that running “a write-in candidacy is an uphill

battle,” but said she has already spoken with several organizations,

elected leaders and her colleagues in the legal profession and has

received verbal commitments to support her candidacy.

Geiser-Sandoval, who collected the required 100 signatures that allows

write-in candidates to enter the race, is concerned that more candidates

will only secure Kline’s reelection.

“I just worry about the message we send to our children if we reelect

a man that may be convicted of criminal charges,” said Geiser-Sandoval,

who dropped out of a different judgeship race in an attempt to defeat

Kline.

“I don’t know why [Robinson] decided to pursue this now instead of

back in November,” when the election was still open to challengers, she

said.

Cindy Brenneman, one of Robinson’s campaign managers on her 2000 City

Council bid who will help manage Robinson’s latest campaign, called it an

incredible opportunity.

Becoming a judge “has always been on her radar screen for the future,

and the timing of this was just right,” Brenneman said.

Kline’s trial date, originally set for Jan. 22, has been moved to June

4, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Deirdre Eliot, the prosecuting attorney in

the case. If convicted, Kline faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in

prison and up to $1.25 million in fines.

If Kline is reelected in March but later convicted on the federal

child pornography counts, he would be removed from the bench. Gov. Gray

Davis would then appoint a successor.

Kline needs only 50% of the vote to retain his position, and political

analysts predict he will receive 35% simply because he is an incumbent.

That leaves Robinson, Sandoval and six other potential write-in

candidates to fight for the remainder, said Terri Niccum, spokeswoman for

the Orange County registrar of voters.

Padberg said Robinson would have to rely heavily on direct mail

between now and March 5 to have any chance. She pegged the tab for that

kind of campaign at roughly $240,000.

Robinson said she will mount a grass-roots campaign “similar to the

one we ran for City Council.”

She said the campaign will go to every city in the county, and “I’ll

be walking precincts, sending out mailers, putting up signs and rounding

up other support in the community.”

Robinson was elected to the City Council in November 2000 on her first

try, becoming the first African American council member. She edged out

incumbent Heather Somers by 32 votes.

During her tenure on the City Council, Robinson has often found

herself on the short end of the vote on key issues, particularly those

related to major development projects. An advocate of low-density

development, she was the lone dissenting vote when the council approved

the controversial Home Ranch project in November.

Robinson is a graduate of the UCLA School of Law. She litigated cases

in maritime, insurance and commercial law while with the Long Beach-based

firm of Keesal, Young and Logan before joining the in-house legal staff

of the Cal State University system in 1996.

Since 1994, Robinson has served as a judge pro tem in Los Angeles

County Superior Court. She has also been an appointed judicial arbitrator

in that court since 1999. Robinson is a former District 7 governor of the

California Women Lawyers and served on its board of directors from 1994

to 1996.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .

* Byron de Arakal is a writer and communications consultant. He lives

in Costa Mesa. His column, Between the Lines, runs Wednesdays and will

return next week. Readers may reach him with news tips and comments via

e-mail at o7 byronwriter@msn.comf7 .