Second S.F. Judicial Candidate Passes $100K

In the second round of fundraising for a seat on San Francisco Superior Court, the tortoise couldn’t quite beat the hare.

In the space of two months, incumbent Judge Thomas Mellon Jr. reduced the gap between himself and one challenger, Gerardo Sandoval, from about $79,000 to $17,000, according to the latest campaign finance statements, which were filed at the end of last week. Though Sandoval has raised more overall, Mellon raised $86,000 to Sandoval’s $24,000 during the most recent reporting period, from March 17 to May 17.

Political analyst David Latterman, who isn’t working for any of the three judicial candidates, speculated that the viability of the Sandoval campaign fueled Mellon’s fundraising machine. “A lot of people who may not support Sandoval see him as a viable candidate.”

Sandoval has raised $125,000 since Jan. 1, $101,000 of that before March 17. Mellon has raised a total of $108,000, and Mary Mallen, the other challenger for the seat, has raised a total of $30,000.

Mellon drew again largely on San Francisco judges, including no fewer than a dozen retired jurists this time around. Claude Perasso ($500), James Warren ($500), Raymond Arata ($500), Donald King ($250) and William Newsom, father of Mayor Gavin Newsom, were among Mellon’s new donors. So were three openly gay judges, including Donna Hitchens ($250) and Nancy Davis ($250), who were elected to the bench in part on a platform of bringing more sexual orientation diversity to the court.

And, Latterman said, while Mallen may not be poised to win, her campaign may have a serious impact on the race. If neither Sandoval, a self-described Democrat, nor Mellon garners more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be held in November, which would be problematic for the Republican-appointed Mellon, Latterman said.

“A lot of Democrats, a lot of people, are going to come out to vote” in November, he said. In a city as famously Democratic as San Francisco, many will likely vote down the party line – or at least not against it.

Democratic turnout will be a factor in the current election too, Latterman said. Because of the state Senate race between incumbent Carole Migden and Assemblyman Mark Leno, Latterman expects the neighborhood with the highest turnout to be the gay-friendly Castro district.