PORT ANGELES — Two of the four candidates vying for the Clallam County Superior Court judge position being vacated by Ken Williams tied right down to the hundredth percentage point atop a recent lawyers’-preference survey of primary election candidates conducted by the county Bar Association.
Rated from one to five on 10 different qualities and their scores averaged, county Hearing Examiner Chris Melly of Port Angeles and District Court 2 Judge Erik Rohrer of Forks each received average scores of 4.16, bar association President Simon Barnhart said this week.
Port Angeles lawyer Curtis Johnson scored 3.47 and state Assistant Attorney General William Payne of Port Angeles 3.21.
The surveys were mailed June 19 to the association’s 76 lawyers who are current on their dues, Barnhart said.
Completed surveys were returned by the due date of June 29 by 47 lawyers, he said.
“It’s an honor to be recognized by my peers,” Rohrer, 54, said Thursday.
“These are people I’ve worked with for over 20 years. I think they are in a good position to know who is qualified and who is not qualified.”
Melly, 60, did not return calls requesting comment Thursday and Saturday.
Ballots will be mailed out July 18 for the Aug. 7 primary.
Any Superior Court judge candidate who wins a simple majority of votes automatically wins the position.
Otherwise, the top two vote-getters will square off in the Nov. 6 general election.
Candidates were graded from one to five in experience, legal ability, integrity, judgment/common sense, objectivity/impartiality, administrative ability, demeanor, temperament, organizational skills and work habits, and their overall average score determined from those 10 individual scores.
Five was excellent, four good, three adequate, two poor and one deficient.
“The purpose of the poll is to get a general sense of how the participating members of the bar feel about the respective candidates in those 10 categories,” Barnhart said.
“The only thing we can take away from it is this is what those dues-paying bar members who voted think about the candidates.”
The largest average score for a single quality was 4.41 for integrity for Melly, while the lowest average single score was 2.38 for experience for Payne.
“The attorneys know the other guys better than I, even though I was bar president in 2010,” said Payne, 55, adding that he moved from Bellingham to Port Angeles in 2008.
“They’re familiar with me as bar president but not as to the criteria in the poll,” Payne said Thursday.
“I wasn’t surprised at all. It’s small portion of the voters. It is what it is.”
Johnson, 58, a private-practice attorney for 34 years, said the law is a “very competitive” profession.
“If I do well in a case that’s been litigated, then my opponent does not do as well,” said Johnson, who ran unsuccessfully in 2007 for the Superior Court judge position won by S. Brooke Taylor.
“Sometimes, hard feelings result, and sometimes, there are axes to grind.”
“I’m happy to be before the public and put my qualifications on the line for their scrutiny,” Johnson said, adding that eight or 10 more attorneys participating in the survey may have changed the outcome.
“It comes down to this fact: My clients are my supporters. If you are an attorney in private practice, would you give your opponents glowing marks?”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.