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Tri-Valley and East Bay voters will decide between two longtime law professionals competing to join the judicial bench of the Alameda County Superior Court.
Candidates Mark Fickes and Michael Johnson appear on the March 5 primary ballot for “Seat 12” as incumbent Judge Evelio Grillo is not seeking reelection.
Both candidates have received endorsements from regional leaders and shared their main campaign goals with the public. In the role, the winner would be among more than 30 Alameda County Superior Court judges and commissioners overseeing cases from within the county limits.
Fickes, who has been practicing law for almost three decades, currently serves as an Alameda County Superior Court commissioner at the Fremont Hall of Justice. He ran for a judicial seat in 2020 but lost to Elena Condes.
“While the role of a commissioner and a judge is largely to uphold the law, it is about so much more,” Fickes said in a statement on his campaign website. “It is about treating everyone with dignity, actively listening to the people who come before me, and making sure everyone is given due process and equal justice under the law.”
“I try to further these goals every day and hope to do so even more when elected as a judge, not by sweeping generalizations about the justice system, but in the daily work that judges do on a case-by-case basis,” Fickes added.
With the tagline, “fairness, justice and equality”, Fickes has been endorsed by the Alameda County Democratic Party, the Tri-Valley Democratic Club and the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club. Tri-Valley leaders Valerie Arkin of the Pleasanton City Council and Elizabeth Echold, president of the East Bay Regional Park District Board of Directors, are among those who have both shared public support for Fickes’ campaign.
A Mississippi native, Johnson has been a resident of Alameda County for more than 30 years. He has said his primary goal will be to facilitate “fairness and Justice for all”.
He is a current temporary judge appointed by the Alameda County Superior Court, which he has done for the past four years. Previously Johnson worked as senior counsel for entertainment companies AT&T and Warner Media.
“I believe in the importance of a fair and impartial judiciary system. I’m committed to applying the law fairly with integrity and without bias,” Johnson told Embarcadero Media Foundation.
“I’ve been a temporary judge in Alameda County Superior Court for the past few years now hearing traffic, small claims, family law, etc. As an attorney and also as a temporary judge, I really found that I had a passion for doing this particular job,” Johnson added.
Candidate Johnson has received endorsements from Dublin Mayor Melissa Hernandez and Pleasanton City Councilmember Jack Balch, among others.
“From the public’s perception, if you have a case that’s going to go in front of Judge Johnson I want them to feel they were treated with respect and dignity. That I heard what they had to say. That’s a priority because public confidence in the judiciary is extremely important,” Johnson said.
“I want to do my part to elevate the profile of the court in any way I can. I’d like to perhaps be an example to communities that have not historically served in the system so that they may be inspired to pursue that path as well,” he added.
