Judge races a local split

Paul Clinton

Voters sent two local attorneys to the Orange County Superior

Court bench on Tuesday and, in the process, denied two others who had

enjoyed wide name recognition.

Gay Sandoval, the Costa Mesa trial attorney who was the first to

publicly crusade for accused child molester Judge Ronald Kline’s

removal from the ballot, saw her campaign end in defeat Tuesday.

Sandoval lost to Dana Point attorney John Adams, who secured 58%

of the vote. The two were seeking Office No. 21.

In a campaign that featured the two candidates trading charges

more often than offering their qualifications, Sandoval secured 42%

of the vote.

Sandoval and Adams entered the race after federal prosecutors

brought Kline up on child pornography and molestation charges earlier

this year. They both vowed to oust the embattled judge, offering

themselves as part of a crowded field of write-in candidates.

And even though Sandoval’s public assault on Kline resulted in her

appearance on national news programs, local voters chose Adams.

“He was endorsed by everybody in the Republican world,” Sandoval

said about Adams. “It wasn’t a shock.”

Adams also won despite the Orange County Bar Assn. handing

Sandoval a “qualified” rating. Adams declined to participate in the

ratings.

Corona del Mar attorney Glenda Sanders, a dogged campaigner, rose

out of obscurity to claim Office No. 27.

Sanders perhaps benefited from the bar’s rating of her as “highly

qualified.” Sanders also benefited from an opponent who stopped

campaigning for the office shortly after the March 5 primary.

Sanders beat top Orange County prosecutor David Brent in a

landslide, pulling 72.3% to his 27.7% of the vote. This race

attracted the least attention of the three.

“I’m tremendously thrilled and relieved,” Sanders said. “My goal

was to have a successful campaign, not an interesting one.”

Vickie Bridgman, a deputy district attorney who lives in Newport

Beach, was also turned away despite wide recognition. Bridgman gained

notoriety in 1997, when her son died in a tragic car accident on

Irvine Avenue.

Kell MacEachern, a Corona del Mar deputy district attorney, beat

Bridgman in the political equivalent of a photo finish. MacEachern’s

51.5% bested Bridgman’s 48.5%.

MacEachern, a relative unknown outside the county’s insular legal

community, staged a remarkable comeback from the March primary, when

Bridgman beat her by 10 points but failed to capture the more than

50% of the vote needed to avoid a runoff.

Bridgman put a brave face on her defeat, when contacted Wednesday.

“I had a great job before the election,” Bridgman said. “I still

have a great job ... It was up to the voters. I asked and I didn’t

receive.”