Election 2026 · Los Angeles County

LA County Superior Court Judge, Office 65

Published September 29, 2026 · Updated October 1, 2026

Justin Allen Clayton and Anna Slotky Reitano are the candidates for LA County Superior Court Judge, Office 65 on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

Superior court judges run the trial courts in California, where a judge, and sometimes a jury, hears testimony and other evidence and decides cases by applying the law to the facts. Each county has one superior court that handles all types of cases. Office No. 65 is one seat on the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Summary by CityHallPass, not the official text or legal advice. The official text controls: LA County's official election information.

What it means for the City of LA

Superior court judges are elected by voters across the whole county, so every City of Los Angeles voter gets this contest. The Los Angeles County Superior Court is the trial court for the entire county, including the City.

Primary results, June 2, 2026

4 candidates. No one won a majority, so the top two, Justin Allen Clayton and Anna Slotky Reitano, advanced to November 3. Total votes: 1,674,139. Results as posted by the County Registrar on June 26, 2026. Certified results

The candidates

The job

What a judge does. Superior courts have trial jurisdiction over all criminal and civil cases in the county. Judges serve six-year terms and are elected on a nonpartisan ballot. When a seat opens between elections, the Governor fills it by appointment (Judicial Council fact sheet). LAist lists the kinds of cases the LA court hears: child custody and divorce, landlord and tenant disputes, contract fights, theft and murder trials, probate and small claims. Judges have discretion over things like sentence length and damage awards (LAist).

Size. Hoodline, citing the court, calls it the nation’s largest trial court system and reports 36 courthouses in 12 judicial districts, more than 580 judicial officers and about 5,000 full-time employees serving 9.5 million residents (Hoodline). LAist counts more than 400 judges (LAist). Superior courts also have commissioners and referees, according to the Judicial Council fact sheet. The court says it receives about 1.3 million filings a year (ABC7).

Budget. The court’s funding comes through the state budget. In September 2026 the court said it is underfunded by $233.7 million, that the current state budget covers 76.77% of its calculated need (the lowest level since 2021), and that it would offer $35,000 to employees who agree to leave. It warned of longer lines and slower processing (ABC7).

Pay. The LA Times reports a superior court judge’s salary is more than $244,000 a year (LA Times).

Rules for candidates. The Code of Judicial Ethics bars judicial candidates from making statements “that commit the candidate … with respect to cases, controversies, or issues that are likely to come before the courts” (Canon 5B(1)(a), Code of Judicial Ethics). As a result, candidates talk about how they would do the job rather than where they stand on issues.

Discipline. The Commission on Judicial Performance handles complaints against judges. In 2025 it received complaints about 1,116 judges and justices, opened 99 preliminary investigations and took 15 public actions, the Metropolitan News-Enterprise reported from its annual report (MetNews).

Bar ratings. The Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Judicial Elections Evaluation Committee rates candidates Exceptionally Well Qualified, Well Qualified, Qualified or Not Qualified. It issued its 2026 ratings on April 22, 2026, for the primary (LACBA report). LAist notes the LACBA is a private, volunteer membership group separate from the State Bar (LAist). No separate general-election report was found.

This seat. Office No. 65 is an open seat with no incumbent on the ballot (MetNews, May 27, 2026; County Registrar candidate list).

Records

Justin Allen Clayton

Legal career. Clayton was admitted to the State Bar on June 6, 2012 (bar number 283282). His profile lists Thomas Jefferson School of Law and shows no public discipline (State Bar profile).

• In about a decade as a public defender he has handled more than 1,000 adult cases and hundreds of juvenile cases, the LA Times reports (LA Times).
• Since 2023 he has been deputy in charge of the Inglewood branch. He describes himself as a “working supervisor” who handles arraignments and hearings and trains attorneys on case preparation, trial strategy and competency to stand trial (LA Times). His current title is Deputy Public Defender III (SCNG questionnaire).
• He is a former president of the Black Public Defenders Association (Pasadena Star-News).

Prior campaigns. None found.

Discipline, ethics and lawsuits. His State Bar history shows only his 2012 admission, with no discipline or administrative actions (State Bar profile). The FPPC closed one advertising case in 2026 as “Violations Found - No Action” after he completed the FPPC’s online education course (FPPC case 2026-00439). No FEC matter names him (FEC legal search). He is not a judge, so the Commission on Judicial Performance has no record on him. Searched Sept. 30, 2026.

Anna Slotky Reitano

Legal career. Reitano was admitted to the State Bar on June 4, 2009 (bar number 263383). Her profile lists UC Davis School of Law and shows no public discipline (State Bar profile).

• Her campaign says she worked as a certified law clerk in the District Attorney’s office, represented public safety employees in administrative proceedings, and worked in private defense (campaign site).
• At the Public Defender’s office she spent three years representing juveniles and five years on adult felony trials, focusing on “mental health diversion and treatment,” the LA Times reports (LA Times).
• In May 2024 she joined County Counsel’s Justice and Safety Division, where she supervises civil litigation and advises County departments (LA Times).

Prior campaign. In 2022 she ran for Office No. 60 as one of four “Defenders of Justice” candidates backed by a coalition of La Defensa, the LA Working Families Party, Court Watch LA and Ground Game LA (WitnessLA). She reached the runoff (Pasadena Star-News).

Discipline, ethics and lawsuits. Her State Bar history shows only her 2009 admission, with no discipline or administrative actions (State Bar profile). The FPPC lists no enforcement case naming her (FPPC case search). No FEC matter names her (FEC legal search). She is not a judge, so the Commission on Judicial Performance has no record on her. Searched Sept. 30, 2026.

Where they stand

Under the Code of Judicial Ethics, judicial candidates may not commit themselves on issues likely to come before the court (Code of Judicial Ethics, Canon 5B). The rows come from the LA Times voter guide and the Southern California News Group questionnaires of May 2026 (Clayton; Reitano).

On the other ballot measures

Positions on the state propositions and, for City voters, the City measures were not found for either candidate.

Endorsements

Justin Allen Clayton

From his endorsements page, checked Sept 29, 2026, unless another source is linked. The page shows organizations only as logos, which could not be read.

• Party: Los Angeles County Democratic Party (Daily News; MetNews, May 27, 2026).
• Organizations: La Defensa (Daily News).
• Elected officials: Supervisor Lindsey Horvath; Gardena Councilmember Wanda Love; Carson Councilmember Jawane Hilton; Inglewood Councilmember Alex Padilla (campaign list).
• Public Defender: Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo D. García (campaign list).
• Judges: 17 current and retired judges and commissioners, including Judges Mark S. Arnold, Altus Hudson, Holly Hancock, George Turner and Ericka Wiley (campaign list).

Anna Slotky Reitano

From her campaign site, checked Sept 29, 2026, unless another source is linked.

• Elected officials: Rep. Laura Friedman; state Treasurer Fiona Ma; state Sen. Ben Allen; Assemblymembers Pilar Schiavo and Nick Schultz; former state Sen. Carol Liu; former LA Councilmember Paul Koretz; Glendale Councilmember Alek Bartrosouf; Burbank Councilmember Nikki Perez (campaign list).
• Former rivals: Chellei Jimenez and Samuel W. Krause, who finished third and fourth in the primary (campaign list; County Registrar).
• Judges: 13 judges, including Assistant Supervising Judge Olivia Rosales and Judges Patrick Connolly and Holly Hancock. Judge Hancock also appears on Clayton’s list (campaign list). Both lists were checked Sept 30, 2026.
• Unions: IATSE Local 33, IUOE Local 12, UA Local 250, Western States Regional Council of Carpenters (campaign list).
• Organizations: Americans for Democratic Action, California NOW PAC, National Women’s Political Caucus, HONOR PAC, Stonewall Democratic Club, West LA Democratic Club and other Democratic clubs. Citizens for Accountable Leadership is also listed (campaign list).
• Outlets: Knock LA recommended her in the primary (Knock LA).

Editorial boards: The Southern California News Group endorsed Chellei Jimenez in the primary (Daily News). No general-election endorsement from it or the LA Times was found.

Polls

No public polls of this race were found.

Money

Judicial candidates file with the California Secretary of State. Figures are from each committee’s Form 460 reports through Sept 19, 2026, in the state’s Cal-Access campaign finance database: Clayton for Judge 2026 and Anna Slotky Reitano for Judge 2026.

Source: Cal-Access committee pages for Clayton and Reitano; Form 460s for Jul 1 to Sep 19, 2026 (Clayton, Reitano).

Who is giving

Method: every itemized contribution (money and in-kind) on the 2026 Form 460s, deduplicated across amended reports. A donor is a normalized name plus ZIP code. Location is by ZIP code (LA County is 900 to 918 and part of 935). Unitemized gifts under $100 ($1,283.10 for Clayton, $590 for Reitano) are left out.

Source: itemized contributions on the 2026 Form 460s filed with Cal-Access by Clayton’s committee and Reitano’s committee.

Justin Allen Clayton

• The largest donor is Alex Padilla for City Council 2026, the committee of an Inglewood councilmember who endorses him ($2,200 in two gifts) (Cal-Access filings).
• Most donors give small amounts: 66 of 77 gave under $250 (Cal-Access filings).
• Employers: 12 donors list Los Angeles County ($1,075.03) and 5 list the City of Los Angeles ($794.75) (Cal-Access filings).
• Judges: four donors list a court job ($869.40) (Cal-Access filings).
• A Los Angeles business, Harold and Belle’s, gave $603.63 in kind (Cal-Access filings).

Spending: on May 22, 2026 his committee paid $3,500 for texting services to the committee of Tal K. Valbuena, a candidate for another seat (Cal-Access filings). The Metropolitan News-Enterprise reported Clayton was part of Valbuena’s “Democratic judicial slate” (MetNews, May 27, 2026).

Anna Slotky Reitano

• Her campaign is funded mostly by her own loans ($16,000, 63% of receipts) (Cal-Access filings).
• The two largest donors gave $3,110 and $3,000 (Cal-Access filings).
• Reitano gave $616.65 in kind to her own campaign (Cal-Access filings).
• Judge Holly Hancock-Goode gave $100. The Women Leading Change Democratic Club gave $250 (Cal-Access filings).
• Seven donors, most giving $100, list Glendale ZIP code 91208, the ZIP code on her own contribution (Cal-Access filings).

Outside spending

No independent expenditure for or against Clayton or Reitano was found in state filings (Form 496 and Schedule D) through the latest bulk export, or in LA County filings (Clayton committee; Reitano committee; County campaign finance portal).

Key moments

Debates and forums

No debate or candidate forum for this seat was found.

Events

• Primary (June 2, 2026). Clayton finished first with 36.69% and Reitano second with 29.88% (County Registrar). The Daily News reported the race as close, listing Clayton as a deputy public defender from Inglewood and Reitano as a deputy county counsel from Glendale (Daily News).