Elect Elena Condes to push the Superior Court of Alameda County in the right direction.
About the Position
Judges of the California Superior Courts are elected in nonpartisan, county-wide elections to six-year terms. Once voted in, a judge can run for retention at the expiration of their term. A retention election is a process by which voters decide whether an incumbent judge should remain for another term. If the judge, when not facing an opponent, does not obtain a certain percentage of voters (often 50 percent), they are removed from the position. Many judges join the court through a gubernatorial appointment. If a judge is appointed, they compete in the next general election following the appointment.
California has 58 trial courts, or superior courts, one in each county. In the more than 450 courthouses of the superior courts, a judge and sometimes a jury hears witness testimony and other evidence. These courts hear civil, criminal, family, probate, small claims, traffic, and juvenile cases. The judge decides cases through the application of relevant law to the relevant facts.
About the Jurisdiction
The Superior Court of Alameda County comprises civil, small claims, family law, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic courts. The County’s public defenders see 50,000 cases per year. As of 2016, Alameda County’s incarceration rate was 305 per 100,000 adults aged 18–69, slightly lower than California’s overall 486 per 100,000 average.
About the Race
In the primary, Elena Condes led challenger Mark Fickes by a margin of 3 percent. Condes’s campaign has raised $147,196.68 and is primarily funded by individual donors, with about 10 percent from labor unions and 7 percent self-funded. Condes’s campaign has not signed on to any pledges to avoid money from fossil fuels or police unions, but has not taken funding from either source, or from corporate PACs. Fickes’s campaign has raised $131,476 and is 57 percent self-funded. Fickes’s campaign also has not committed to sign on to any pledges to avoid money from fossil fuels or police unions, but has also not taken any funding from either source or from corporate PACs.
About the Candidate
Elena Condes, a criminal defense attorney with more than 25 years of courtroom experience, has lived in the East Bay for her entire professional career. According to campaign materials, Condes is running for election to increase access to the justice system, expand and support alternatives to incarceration, and support and mentor youth to increase diversity. If elected, Condes would become the third Latina on the Alameda County bench in a county that is 22.4 percent Latinx or Hispanic.
As a criminal defense attorney, Elena Condes started her own practice based on the premise that every person deserves respect and justice. She has worked as a judge pro tem for Alameda County and on the executive committee for the Court Appointed Attorneys Program. Condes is a recipient of the Minority Bar Coalition Unity Award for her dedication to working to advance the cause of diversity in the legal profession. Elena Condes has also served as president and treasurer of the East Bay La Raza Lawyers Association for 20 years with the aim to support Latinx law students in the Bay Area. Condes has also served on the board of Women Defenders, a professional association of criminal defense attorneys. Committed to education and the importance of ensuring that youth have access to the resources they need, Elena Condes served on the PTA of Washington Elementary School in Berkeley and helped create the Educational Equality Alliance, raising money for one-on-one tutoring for those not proficient in English, and purchasing bilingual books for students and families.
Elena Condes is endorsed by a strong majority of local progressive groups in the district. Her opponent, Mark Fickes, is endorsed by more moderate Democatic Party members or party-aligned groups. According to our analysis, Elena Condes is the strongest choice for equitable and representative leadership in office.
Elect Elena Condes to push the Superior Court of Alameda County in the right direction.
About the Position
Judges of the California Superior Courts are elected in nonpartisan, county-wide elections to six-year terms. Once voted in, a judge can run for retention at the expiration of their term. A retention election is a process by which voters decide whether an incumbent judge should remain for another term. If the judge, when not facing an opponent, does not obtain a certain percentage of voters (often 50 percent), they are removed from the position. Many judges join the court through a gubernatorial appointment. If a judge is appointed, they compete in the next general election following the appointment.
California has 58 trial courts, or superior courts, one in each county. In the more than 450 courthouses of the superior courts, a judge and sometimes a jury hears witness testimony and other evidence. These courts hear civil, criminal, family, probate, small claims, traffic, and juvenile cases. The judge decides cases through the application of relevant law to the relevant facts.
About the Jurisdiction
The Superior Court of Alameda County comprises civil, small claims, family law, probate, juvenile, criminal, and traffic courts. The County’s public defenders see 50,000 cases per year. As of 2016, Alameda County’s incarceration rate was 305 per 100,000 adults aged 18–69, slightly lower than California’s overall 486 per 100,000 average.
About the Race
In the primary, Elena Condes led challenger Mark Fickes by a margin of 3 percent. Condes’s campaign has raised $147,196.68 and is primarily funded by individual donors, with about 10 percent from labor unions and 7 percent self-funded. Condes’s campaign has not signed on to any pledges to avoid money from fossil fuels or police unions, but has not taken funding from either source, or from corporate PACs. Fickes’s campaign has raised $131,476 and is 57 percent self-funded. Fickes’s campaign also has not committed to sign on to any pledges to avoid money from fossil fuels or police unions, but has also not taken any funding from either source or from corporate PACs.
About the Candidate
Elena Condes, a criminal defense attorney with more than 25 years of courtroom experience, has lived in the East Bay for her entire professional career. According to campaign materials, Condes is running for election to increase access to the justice system, expand and support alternatives to incarceration, and support and mentor youth to increase diversity. If elected, Condes would become the third Latina on the Alameda County bench in a county that is 22.4 percent Latinx or Hispanic.
As a criminal defense attorney, Elena Condes started her own practice based on the premise that every person deserves respect and justice. She has worked as a judge pro tem for Alameda County and on the executive committee for the Court Appointed Attorneys Program. Condes is a recipient of the Minority Bar Coalition Unity Award for her dedication to working to advance the cause of diversity in the legal profession. Elena Condes has also served as president and treasurer of the East Bay La Raza Lawyers Association for 20 years with the aim to support Latinx law students in the Bay Area. Condes has also served on the board of Women Defenders, a professional association of criminal defense attorneys. Committed to education and the importance of ensuring that youth have access to the resources they need, Elena Condes served on the PTA of Washington Elementary School in Berkeley and helped create the Educational Equality Alliance, raising money for one-on-one tutoring for those not proficient in English, and purchasing bilingual books for students and families.
Elena Condes is endorsed by a strong majority of local progressive groups in the district. Her opponent, Mark Fickes, is endorsed by more moderate Democatic Party members or party-aligned groups. According to our analysis, Elena Condes is the strongest choice for equitable and representative leadership in office.
Elect City Council Members Lacei Amodei, Néstor Castillo, and Elisha Crader to push Hayward in the right direction.
Disclaimer: Candidates’ names are listed in alphabetical order by last name. No hierarchical ranking is intended by the order in which their names and biographies appear.
About the Position
Hayward, CA, is governed by a six-person city council. A city council is responsible for establishing policy, passing local laws (called ordinances), voting on budget appropriations, and developing an overall vision for the city. City council members in Hayward serve terms of four years in office.
About the District
Hayward is Alameda County’s 3rd most populous city. Hayward City Council oversees the needs of approximately 159,000 people and manages an estimated budget of $172.1 million dollars annually. Hayward is managed by a mayor-council structured government.
About the Race
Four city council seats are open during this General Election period. Lacei Amodei and Elisha Crader are running a joint campaign and have raised $21,932. Néstor Castillo’s campaign has raised $8,732. All three candidates have pledged to decline money from the fossil fuel industry and law-enforcement organizations, and analysis of their campaign filings shows they have honored these pledges.