In a field of 24 candidates, campaign experience and name recognition were trumping a controversial party endorsement in early election returns Tuesday.
In the closely watched race for seat 3 in the 10th Judicial District, which sprawls across eight counties north and east of the Twin Cities but is based in Stillwater, former state legislator Tad Jude was holding a strong lead as this edition of the Star Tribune went to press.
Jude, a Fridley lawyer who specializes in workers' compensation law, was leading the field; Catherine (Kate) McPherson was second, and Yamy Vang and Chris Penwell, who touted his Republican Party endorsement, were tied at third.
Jude served 16 years in the Legislature (first as a DFLer, then as a Republican), is a former Hennepin County commissioner and ran for Congress in 1994. In a district that stretches from Cottage Grove in the south nearly to Duluth, that experience clearly helped.
The race is being closely watched by both supporters and opponents of judicial election reform in Minnesota. Supporters of reform want to keep politics out of judge's races, saying it debases the goal of an independent judiciary. Opponents, bolstered by recent court cases, say judicial candidates should be free to espouse their beliefs.
The other contested race was for seat 27, where Anoka County District Judge Michael Roith and attorney John Dehen were neck-and-neck.
Ramsey County
In the 2nd Judicial District, Gloria Bogen faced Mark Ireland for seat 16 being vacated by Ramsey County District Judge M. Michael Monahan. Unlike the 10th Judicial District, a primary election narrowed the field of nine candidates. Ireland, founder and supervising attorney of the Foreclosure Relief Law Project, held a slim lead over Bogen, lead staff attorney of Legal Assistance of Washington County.
For seat 27, incumbent Ramsey County District Judge William Leary was being challenged by Connie Iversen. Leary had the lead.
Jim Anderson • 651-735-0999
