EVERETT — Two incumbent Snohomish County Superior Court judges appeared set to retain their seats in early tallies Tuesday night.
Judge Miguel Duran held 55.2% of the vote for Position 16, while challenger Brett Rogers, a former cop, had 44.5%.
Meanwhile for Position 17, incumbent Patrick Moriarty led Mary Anderson, 56.0% to 43.5%.
Last year, Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Moriarty and Duran to fill two new seats on the Superior Court bench.
Position 16
The duel between Duran and Rogers had something of a partisan bent for a nonpartisan race.
Rogers, 53, a Lake Stevens resident from Wisconsin, served as a Seattle police officer while getting a law degree from Seattle University. He ran for several positions as a Republican in recent years: taking 12% of the primary vote for state attorney general in 2020 and losing a race for Snohomish County Prosecutor to Jason Cummings in 2022.
Duran, 46, from Corpus Christi, Texas, had worked as a defense attorney in civil and criminal cases for 22 years. The governor appointed him last year.
“I am incredibly humbled and grateful to see that Snohomish County’s voters showed their confidence in my continuing service to our community,” Duran said in an email Wednesday. “I pledge to keep working hard to maintain the trust they’ve placed in me.”
Rogers had said a judge cannot be impartial if appointed by politicians, calling it “problematic” in our “current hyper-partisan climate.”
Position 17
The race for the other seat was about as close.
Moriarty, 58, was also appointed by Inslee in June 2022. He has worked for decades in the legal system, including over 17 years as a judge pro tem.
Anderson, 49, had the more varied resume. In addition to 12 years of experience as a trial attorney, she also operated her own construction firm, ran a mortgage brokerage firm and worked as a real estate agent. Anderson hoped to become the first Black woman to serve as a judge in Snohomish County Superior Court.
She waged a strong challenge, raising over $78,000 in campaign contributions to Moriarty’s more than $87,000.
“We are all very happy about the result last night,” Moriarty said. “… But most important, I am gratified that the extensive support I received from so many diverse groups around the County was built on an honest presentation of my long judicial experience here. I look forward to working with the rest of our judges, who all supported me, and everyone in the community who cares about improving public safety and finding new ways to improve the lives of working families.”
Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; jonathan.tall@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @snocojon.
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