2026 VOTER GUIDE | PART 5 of 8
Los ANGELES
COUNTY
LA COUNTY ENDORSEMENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS
QUICK GUIDE
- Sheriff | Robert Luna
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LA COUNTY
CANDIDATE
PROFILES
Robert Luna
LA County Sheriff
⚠️ Harm Reduction
The Sheriff runs the largest sheriff’s department in the nation, overseeing more than 10,000 sworn personnel, operating the county jails, and providing law enforcement services to unincorporated areas and 42 contract cities. The Sheriff’s Department’s relationship with ICE and federal immigration enforcement is one of the most urgent policy questions in the county.
Los Angeles County Sheriff
Luna has received contributions from law enforcement, including from a law enforcement consultant, the director of the Rio Hondo Police Academy, a Vice President at Public Safety Alliance, the Director of Public Safety at JVC Kenwood, the Chief of Airport Police at Los Angeles World Airports, an executive at the Los Angeles County Probation Department, and the California Association of Highway Patrolmen.
Robert Luna was elected the 34th Los Angeles County Sheriff in November 2022, after a 36-year career at the Long Beach Police Department, including seven years as Long Beach Chief of Police. He grew up in unincorporated East Los Angeles in a low-income Latino immigrant family, in a neighborhood patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department, where he says he saw examples of both good and bad policing. As Sheriff, he created the Office of Constitutional Policing and adopted a policy banning deputy gangs, which have been a long-documented problem within LASD.
Robert Luna is the harm reduction vote for this seat over perennial persona non grata candidate Alex Villanueva. Luna is running on “results:” his campaign points out that violent crime in LASD-patrolled areas has fallen each year under his watch, with homicides down 14% in the past year. He has framed the race around stability, as Los Angeles comes off hosting the 2026 World Cup matches and prepares for the 2028 Olympics. He has also pushed for the construction of a mental health jail. His stated priorities are reducing violent crime, increasing public trust, modernizing the department, and addressing homelessness. Luna oversaw the implementation of a public data dashboard revealing LASD’s use of force, Taser usage, stops, and personnel complaints for the first time.
Los ANGELES
JUDGES
JUDGE OF THE LA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT ENDORSEMENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS QUICK GUIDE
*Endorsed by La Defensa
- Office 64 | Rhonda Haymon*
- Office 65 | Justin Allen Clayton* and Anna Slotky Reitano
- Office 131 | David Ross
About These Seats
We know, we know! This is why you are here! Since 2020, La Defensa has been shedding light on judicial behavior and discretion in the LA County Superior Court through Rate My Judge LA and Court Watch LA. Our voter guide pays special attention to the judicial races because judges have enormous day-to-day power over the lives of people in our community: they set or deny bail, determine whether someone will be released pretrial or sit in jail, decide sentences, grant or deny resentencing petitions, and decide whether to offer diversion and treatment rather than incarceration. They also have the authority to dismiss cases where prosecutorial or police misconduct is established, and to grant Racial Justice Act motions where racially biased decision-making is proven.
The Los Angeles Superior Court is the largest trial court system in the United States, handling criminal, civil, family, juvenile, and traffic cases for a county of nearly 10 million people. Superior Court judges serve six-year terms. They are elected by county voters, or appointed by the Governor to fill vacancies and then stand for election.
Our Vetting Criteria
Although we did not sponsor a cohort of Defenders of Justice candidates as we have in past cycles, we developed a comprehensive questionnaire and invited each candidate to interview with our endorsement committee. Because the California Code of Judicial Ethics constrains judicial candidates’ ability to take explicit policy positions, we designed our process accordingly. We asked candidates about:
- their professional background and prior experience representing or working alongside the communities most impacted by the criminal legal system;
- their personal connections to the carceral system;
- their sources of campaign funding and community endorsements; and
- their motivations for seeking this seat.
On the substance of judging, we asked how they would:
- approach pretrial detention and cash bail;
- weigh the real-world consequences of incarceration before any finding of guilt;
- apply judicial discretion in the face of mandatory minimums and sentencing enhancements;
- address implicit bias and the documented racial disparities in the Los Angeles court system;
- handle algorithm-based risk assessment tools;
- protect the rights and dignity of immigrants, trans and gender-nonconforming people, and young people appearing before them; and
- respond to prosecutorial or police misconduct raised by the defense.
We also asked about their vision for restorative justice and what they would do to make their courtroom more accessible and less intimidating to the communities that have historically been most harmed by it. We endorsed candidates based on their questionnaire responses and their performance in an interview with our endorsement committee. Candidates who aligned with our values but did not complete the full endorsement process, or whose responses were less developed, are listed as Recommended. The candidate descriptions below reflect La Defensa’s evaluation of each candidate’s background, values, and public record. Nothing in them should be read as a commitment by any candidate to rule a particular way in any case.
LA COUNTY
JUDICIAL
CANDIDATES
OFFICE NO. 64
Rhonda Haymon
✅ Endorsed
Deputy Public Defender, County of Los Angeles
Haymon is endorsed by Supervisors Holly Mitchell, Lindsey Horvath, Kathryn Barger, and Janice Hahn, as well as Assemblymember Sade Elhawary. Haymon does not accept law enforcement or PAC donations under any circumstances. Haymon received a “Qualified” rating from the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
Rhonda Haymon is a Deputy Public Defender with over 26 years of experience representing individuals and families in the Los Angeles justice system. She is also an adjunct professor and the founder of the “Who Am I” program, which supports young people in navigating systems and building leadership. A Black woman who grew up with family members directly impacted by the justice system, she was once held in contempt of court for what she attributes to zealously defending a client. The State Bar later declined to pursue the matter. She describes that experience as affirming her belief in the need to restore integrity and balance to the bench.
La Defensa is proud to endorse Rhonda Haymon for Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 64. Haymon defines public safety as the presence of peace, security, and conditions that allow individuals and communities to thrive, not merely the absence of crime. She is among the most explicitly restorative of the judicial candidates we evaluated.
On pretrial detention, she is deeply skeptical of risk assessment tools, which she believes can replicate and amplify racial bias and undermine the individualized decision-making courts are obligated to provide. She emphasizes the California Supreme Court’s In re Humphrey decision, which requires courts to consider a person’s ability to pay when setting bail, and believes no one should be detained simply for being poor.
On sentencing, she believes background factors, including poverty, trauma, mental health, substance use, and immigration status, are highly relevant to a just outcome. She is committed to addressing racial disparities in the courtroom, and she believes judges should use the discretion available to them to avoid unnecessarily harsh outcomes and patterns of over-incarceration in communities of color.
She believes community safety is not strengthened simply by removing a person from the community, and that lasting safety comes from addressing root causes. She sees restorative justice as part of the answer to the system we have now, and values diversion as a meaningful tool where the law permits.
On misconduct, she believes judges have a responsibility to address prosecutorial misconduct, police misconduct, and racially biased enforcement when they are established, using the remedies the law provides. Her vision for the court includes a committee of judges to evaluate which courtrooms are most effectively reducing recidivism, and to identify model practices that could be replicated systemwide.
OFFICE NO. 65
Justin Allen Clayton
✅ Endorsed
Deputy Public Defender, County of Los Angeles
Clayton is endorsed by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, AVANCE Democratic Club, Culver City Democratic Club, Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo García, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, as well as 17 current and retired judges and local elected officials including Gardena City Councilmember Wanda Love, Inglewood City Councilmember Alex Padilla, and Carson City Councilmember Dr. Jawane Hilton. He does not accept law enforcement or PAC donations. Clayton received a “Qualified” rating from the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
Justin Allen Clayton is a career Deputy Public Defender and Deputy-in-Charge who has represented adults and juveniles in Los Angeles County for over a decade, litigating more than 40 jury trials and adjudications and over 50 life cases. A Black Angeleno born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, whose family’s roots in the city go back to 1920, he is the former President of the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Black Public Defenders Association and a former Teen Court instructor at Maya Angelou High School. He has coached youth baseball and Roosevelt High School’s Mock Trial team, volunteers with LA City Parks and Recreation, and has organized Know Your Rights panels, scholarship events, and food drives. He describes ICE knocking on his door, and his baseball team forfeiting games because families were afraid to leave their homes, as direct motivations for his candidacy.
La Defensa is proud to endorse Justin Allen Clayton for Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 65. Clayton’s values are grounded in the lived experience of the carceral system’s impact on his family, extended family, and community. He describes cycles of trauma, biased policing, immigration detention, and the foster-to-prison pipeline as shaping what he is running to change.
On pretrial detention, he believes the presumption of innocence means detention should depend on whether a person poses a proven threat to community safety, not on their ability to pay. He believes collateral consequences, including employment, housing, and family stability, deserve serious weight.
On sentencing, he believes courts should consider not only a person’s background but also whether the system’s own failure to provide treatment contributed to the situation. He believes judges must have the courage to use the discretion the law provides in the face of mandatory minimums and enhancement stacking. He values diversion that involves the community and connects people to housing, employment, and substance use treatment. He believes racial disparities deserve attention at every stage of a proceeding, from filing to sentencing, and he is skeptical of risk assessment tools as insufficiently individualized and prone to reflecting bias in the data they were built on.
He is committed to ensuring that immigrant defendants understand the immigration consequences of their cases, and to courtrooms where people can seek justice without fear.
Drawing on his years representing young people, he has deep concerns about the prosecution of minors as adults. His vision is a court where those who often go unseen and unheard are seen and heard.
Anna Slotky Reitano
👍 Recommended
Deputy County Counsel, County of Los Angeles
Reitano is endorsed by State Senator Ben Allen, Congressmember Laura Friedman, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, Assemblymembers Pilar Schiavo and Nick Schultz, and more than a dozen sitting Superior Court judges. Her organizational endorsers include the East Area Progressive Democrats, Citizens for Accountable Leadership, Stonewall Democratic Club, California NOW PAC, the National Women’s Political Caucus, IUOE Local 12, and Western States Carpenters. She reports that she has not accepted any donations from law enforcement or police associations, and she does not plan to seek PAC money. Reitano received a “Qualified” rating from the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
Anna Slotky Reitano is a Deputy County Counsel in the Justice and Safety Division, where she supervises civil litigation and advises county departments on public safety, youth violence prevention, and alternatives to incarceration. She spent more than a decade as a Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender, representing adults and children in misdemeanor, serious felony, and juvenile cases. Earlier in her career, she was a certified law clerk in the District Attorney’s office and represented public safety employees in administrative proceedings and homicide investigations. La Defensa endorsed Reitano in her 2022 run, where she received 44.7% of the vote.
La Defensa also recommends Anna Slotky Reitano for Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 65. Reitano defines public safety as both the protection of individuals and the long-term well-being of communities, strengthened when underlying issues like mental illness, substance use, and instability are addressed.
On pretrial detention, she believes a person’s ability to pay should not determine whether they stay in custody, and she is concerned that when liberty is determined by wealth, people can be pressured to resolve cases for reasons unrelated to the merits. She believes detention should be limited to specific, individualized risks and is not meant to be punitive. She values the least restrictive alternatives, such as release on one’s own recognizance, supervised release, and court reminder systems.
On sentencing, she views poverty, trauma, mental health, and substance use as relevant context and values alternatives that address root causes. She believes incarceration should not be the default response. In 2022, she pointed out that Los Angeles County’s jail system doubles as its largest mental health care facility, and called for judges who understand mental illness and the resources available through collaborative courts and mental health diversion. She values restorative justice practices, diversion, and victim-offender dialogue where legally permitted, and her work representing survivors of domestic violence, trafficking, and trauma has shown her how much a person’s history matters in understanding their case.
She is committed to a courtroom where everyone is treated with dignity, including through the respectful use of names and pronouns, and where defendants are addressed by name rather than as “bodies,” a practice she witnessed as a public defender. As a public defender, she challenged prosecutorial and police misconduct, and she believes judges must take appropriate action, consistent with the law, when misconduct is established.
Although we ultimately endorsed Clayton for this seat, we recognize that Reitano would also be a values-aligned choice for voters.
OFFICE NO. 131
David Ross
👍 Recommended
Deputy Public Defender
Ross is endorsed by IBEW Local 47, APWU Local 64, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 12, ILWU Local 63 (Marine Clerks), Stonewall Young Democrats, and the East Area Progressive Democrats. He reports that he is also endorsed by 75 judges throughout California and more than 100 public defenders, prosecutors, bar members, and local elected officials. Ross reports that he has not accepted any contributions from law enforcement, and he will not accept donations from corporations or PACs. Ross received a “Qualified” rating from the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
David Ross has spent 30 years as a public defender, first as a Deputy Public Defender in Riverside County, where he handled drug court cases, writs, and appeals, and since 2000 as a Deputy Alternate Public Defender in Los Angeles County. Over his career, he has represented more than 10,000 indigent clients, litigated 113 jury trials, and handled roughly 2,000 preliminary hearings. Before law, he spent 10 years as a television news reporter and documentary producer in Washington, D.C., Tennessee, and Kansas, and worked as a legislative aide to Indiana Congressman Floyd J. Fithian. From 2002 to 2006, he was also an Adjunct Professor of Law at Western State University College of Law, teaching legal writing and research and serving as a Moot Court Judge.
La Defensa recommends David Ross for Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 131. Ross understands the struggles that affect the many communities of Los Angeles County and the hardships people face as they navigate the criminal legal system. He understands how many bus rides it can take to get to court, that people can’t always afford child care or a private lawyer, and how difficult it can be to complete probation. He has advocated for clients who were late to court because they rely on public transit, and he believes courts should work with people facing those barriers rather than penalize them.
On pretrial release, Ross credits bail reform with giving accused people a fighting chance at fair treatment. He has spent his career steering clients toward alternatives to pretrial detention by documenting their employment, residence, and family and community support. On sentencing, he believes a defendant’s background, including poverty, trauma, mental health, and substance use, is relevant, and he has applauded changes in the law that give judges more discretion in sentencing. He has advocated for alternative sentencing, diversion, and mental health diversion for his clients throughout his career, and he views these practices as playing a critical role in correcting injustices. He values Los Angeles County’s collaborative courts, including Homeless Court and Veterans Court, and his vision for the court includes more specialized courts for veterans, unhoused people, youth, and people with mental health needs.
Ross is keenly aware of the daily challenges that the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized communities face. He describes himself as a lifelong ally who values the dignity and safety of every person who comes before the court. Drawing on his journalism background, he values clear and accessible rulings, written orders, and courtroom instructions, so that people understand what the court requires of them.
Ross believes bias is an issue within the judicial system and that it is the judge’s job to weed out biases and prejudices. While judges often default to incarceration to avoid criticism for their decisions, Ross distinguishes the judiciary from law enforcement and is not afraid of decisions that could draw criticism.