Washington: Results from two efforts to evaluate judicial candidates have been released (Updated)

Results from two efforts to evaluate judicial candidates in the state have been released recently. The King County Bar Association’s screening committee gave “unqualified” ratings to three of 13 candidates for contested seats on the King County Superior Court. Some members of the legal community question these ratings, as each of the three candidates has at least two decades of legal experience and one has been endorsed by two retired supreme court justices. The Justice for Washington Foundation, a bipartisan and somewhat conservative legal group, released ratings of supreme court candidates. Two sitting justices running for reelection were rated “well qualified” and “qualified.” A former justice who lost a 2010 bid for reelection and is running for an open seat also received a “qualified” rating, while one of his opponents earned the highest rating of “exceptionally well qualified.”