by Mark McDermott
Manhattan Beach Councilperson Steve Napolitano finished first among a field of four candidates in the race for Judge for the Superior Court of Los Angeles Seat 39. He will now face the second place finisher, Jacob Lee, in a runoff election in the November election.
Napolitano said he was “honored and humbled” by the support he received from friends and family as well as his council colleagues and other elected officials across LA County. He earned 217,179 votes, or 30.2% of the vote. Lee received 208,969, or 29.06%.
He praised his campaign team.
“Elections are a team effort, and I have a great team that I’m very grateful for,” Napolitano said. “As for the runoff, we’re just going to do more of the same and I hope to reach out to even more folks and get their support as well. The primary was a sprint, now we’re in it for the long haul.”
Napolitano, who terms out as a councilperson after the November election, said his experience running for LA County Supervisor in 2015 helped him mount a countywide campaign. But a judicial campaign is a different beast. Candidates are not allowed to talk about each other — “A good thing,” Napolitano said — and compared to political elections face a largely indifferent electorate. Napolitano has run five successful campaigns for council and served as mayor a record six times.
“It’s a very different type of campaign because it’s not really driven by issues as much as experience,” he said. “My approach was to be myself and let the voters know that I’m not your usual judicial candidate and that’s a good thing. My goal was to show voters that judges matter and that the breadth and depth of the experience judges have matters too, because experience informs decisions.”
In addition to his experience serving on City Council, Napolitano worked as a senior deputy for LA Supervisor Don Knabe. He has also worked as an attorney for more than two decades and currently serves as an administrative law hearing officer and as a parole board attorney.
“I’ve got a lot of experience in many things that matter most to our communities, as well as legal experience representing those who are incarcerated and being an administrative law judge/hearing officer for cities and counties,” Napolitano said. “It’s tough to get all that out there to voters, but it looks like we did and that’s what we’re going to have to do again in November.”
He believes his success, thus far, in finishing first is due to his track record and the many people he’s worked with across his many fields of endeavor.
“I’d have to attribute any success so far to my 30 years of public service and 20 years of experience as an attorney working for the public good,” Napolitano said. “I think that’s helped a lot of folks know me and know what I stand for. They know I’ll be fair, and they know I’ll do my best and work hard for them.”
Napolitano also credited his hometown, not only for his success in the judicial race, but in shaping his political career and even his character.
“My Manhattan Beach community has always been there for me as I’ve been there for them and always will be,” he said. “I’m amazed my friends and family still put up with me, but they do, especially my parents. It’s just my mom now, but she’s still my rock. November is going to be an entirely different race than the primary, so I’m going to need all that help and more going forward to get this done as well — hint, hint.”
