George Likes His Courtroom Spicy

Who would have thought that a Superior Court Judge Race in Benton and Franklin Counties would draw such fire and brimstone?

There seem to be two "issues" with the incumbent, Norma Rodriguez:

1) She was appointed by Governor Jay Inslee. 

2) She presided over the recall of the three embattled Richland School Board members. 

Those items have rallied the reactionary right wing of the greater Tri-Cities area to denounce her as an Inslee puppet who is beholden to a left-wing idealogy. Thus, both Benton and Franklin County Republican Parties have endorsed her opponent, George Cicotte, a local employee benefits attorney who finished in 6th place in the 2014 congressional primary race and made some waves working to help open local schools during Covid. 

It's worth reviewing who has endorsed each of these candidates. Norma Rodriguez boasts endorsements from a laundry list of legal professionals that is too long to even read. Notable highlights are Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond (Republican), Ken Hohenberg (former Kennewick Police Chief and current Port of Kennewick Commissioner), and Judge Dave Peterson (more on that later). It's an impressive collection of endorsements and worth the scroll through.

Meanwhile, George Cicotte is endorsed by the following: 

Benton County Republican Party

Franklin County Republican Party

Bill McKay, Kennewick City Council

Semi Bird, Richland School Board

Craig Littrell, Kennewick Police

Brad Beauchamp, Kennewick City Council

Jhoanna Jones, Richland City Council

Brett Bybee, Local Boy Scouts

Gabe Galbraith, Kennewick School Board

Joe Cotta, Candidate for Legislature

Mike Massey, Chair of Benton County Republican Party

Jim Zimmerman, Loan Officer

Patricia Holten, Republican Activist

Brad Klippert, Republican State Rep

Claude Oliver, Former elected official and Facebook aficionado

Sandra Brown, Compliance Officer

Annette Rose, Republican Activist

Jerrod Sessler, Failed Congressional Candidate

Robert Garrison, Republican Facebook Afficiando

That is a murderer's row of local hard-right activists, politicians, and wannabe players. Outside of Mr. Littrell, who is unknown to the author, support from the legal and law enforcement community is conspicuously absent. This is an impressively partisan and ideological list of endorsees.

Let's set that aside because obviously, the two points above are what matters to people in this race. When Judge Cameron Mitchell retired from the bench, the responsibility to fill that vacancy fell to one Jay Robert Inslee. Norma Rodriguez, an experienced local criminal defense attorney, applied and won the bar poll and was recommended by a panel of sitting judges that included Judge Dave Peterson (more on that later). Jay Inslee approved this recommendation and Rodriguez was appointed. Rodriguez claims she has never met Inslee, yet simply because Inslee approved the recommendation warrants strike 1 against her.

Next is the school board recall. You can read pro and con and I shall not rehash them here. Now, while I was almost a lawyer, it's important to note that I am not. That does not appear to slow much of the right-wing reactionary activists, however. Judge Rodriguez allowed the recall to proceed and that decision is now awaiting appeal at the state Supreme Court. Did that ruling violate legal standards for political purposes -- if you ask George Cicotte, the answer is yes. Yet, here is what Judge Dave Peterson had to say about the proceedings:

Judge Dave Peterson was elected in 2020 after defeating State Senator Sharon Brown. Notably, he was endorsed by the Benton County Republican Party and the Franklin County Republican Party. Yet, now that he has come out and endorsed (again, along with many other judges) Norma Rodriguez, he has immediately drawn the ire of many of our beloved local Republicans:

This is more evidence of the "fall-in-line" mentality that is pervasive in our local politics and beyond. Differing opinions are not welcome, and certainly not endorsements that are perceived as a counter to the party line and popular front they've established. Could it be that Norma is a qualified judge, these activists know zero about legal proceedings, and it's Cicotte who is the partisan hack? Nah...