Gwyneth Paltrow and other goopy acolytes might recommend manifesting the job you want, but it's possible a candidate for Los Angeles Superior Court took that philosophy a little too far.

In the race for judge of Los Angeles County's Superior Court office No. 76, Judge Mike Cummins lost to Deputy District Attorney Emily Cole, managing to capture just 16.76% of the reported Super Tuesday vote, according to election results posted by the Los Angeles County Registrar on Wednesday.

No, Cummins is not an incumbent judge. He changed his first name to "Judge" in 2017 and appeared on the LA County ballot as "Judge Mike Cummins, Retired Counselor-at-Law."

Cummins was indeed appointed to a judgeship for Stanislaus Municipal Court in 1994 but resigned in 2006 to make an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the Stanislaus County district attorney's office. In 2018, he lost to an incumbent for district attorney in San Luis Obispo County.

Ahead of this week's vote, Cummins received a "not qualified" rating from the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Judicial Elections Evaluation Committee, a designation the group gave to three other judicial candidates. The rating is bestowed on prospective judges who the committee finds lack attributes such as integrity, fairness, experience or a good professional reputation.

Cummins did not respond to an email or voicemail Wednesday afternoon.

On Twitter, some voters found the tactic humorous, with one user calling it "the funniest race on my CA primary ballot," while others called the move a "scam."

Cole, who specialized in prosecuting sex crimes in LA, called the race "unique." She said she didn't take any chances during the campaign, attending all the clubs, bar associations, voter events and even chatted up future constituents at the farmers market. "My opponent had the appearance of incumbency," she said.

She said she pulled out all the campaign stops, because it could have been a precedent-setting election with repercussions of what people would do in future judge races had her opponent won. "I was afraid that this is something other people would try to emulate in judge races if he would win," she said.

Cole said she understands that his explanation has been that he can't put retired judge on the ballot—because of election laws that require candidates to use their most recent occupation—but he felt it was important for voters to know he had that experience. However, there are other ways to get that message across besides getting around an election law for personal gain, she said.

"It should have been his response to campaign like I did and educate the electorate," she said. "A judge should always try to follow the law. That is our job. So, I didn't feel like that was an ethical decision."

Cole said it's possible that Cummin's decision to change his name hurt him in the long run, citing the wide margin of the loss, which she said some sitting judges have told her is the most significant they've ever seen.

The deputy assistant DA won't take the bench until 2021. She's spent the last 13 years as a victims advocate but said she's looking forward to positively impacting defendants as well. For instance, she plans to work with labor unions to help funnel former defendants who are on probation into apprenticeship programs, so that they can make better lives for themselves.

"I just want to have a meaningful effect on the lives that come into my courtroom," she said.