{"id":802253,"date":"2026-05-17T06:08:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T06:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/802253\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T06:08:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T06:08:32","slug":"heres-whos-running-in-the-june-primary-to-be-a-san-diego-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/802253\/","title":{"rendered":"Here’s who’s running in the June primary to be a San Diego judge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although there are several San Diego Superior Court judicial seats on the ballot in the June primary, the vast majority feature only one candidate \u2014 nearly all are judges running unopposed for re-election. The real races to watch are the two contested seats<\/a> \u2014 three candidates vying for one office, two candidates vying for another.<\/p>\n

In the race for Office No. 31, an administrative law judge is squaring off against a senior assistant state attorney general. In the race for Office No. 32, the candidates are a civil litigator, a chief deputy city attorney and a probate attorney who is also a law professor.<\/p>\n

If a candidate draws more than 50% of the vote in the primary, they will win that judicial office outright and avoid a November runoff \u2014 an outcome that seems likely for Office No. 31, given that there are only two candidates in that contest.<\/p>\n

If no candidate reaches that 50% threshold, the two who drew the most votes will move on to compete in the November election.<\/p>\n

Aside from those two contested seats and the many judges running for re-election, there are three open seats that drew only one candidate. Court Commissioner Leah Boucek is running unopposed,\u00a0as are Tracy Prior and Laurie Hauf, both of whom are longtime deputy district attorneys. Since they are unopposed, each is presumed likely to win an open judicial seat.<\/p>\n

Office No. 31<\/p>\n

Two candidates are running for Office No. 31: Jodi Cleesattle and Adam Noakes.<\/p>\n

Cleesattle<\/a> is a supervising deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice in the civil division.<\/p>\n

\"JodiJodi Cleesattle. (Courtesy of Jodi Cleesattle)<\/p>\n

Cleesattle, 57, has been a trial attorney for 32 years, although she started out as a newspaper reporter covering politics and legal issues. She decided to go to American University Washington College of Law to learn more about those topics \u2014 not to become an attorney. \u201cI wrote every paper on a First Amendment topic, regardless of what class it was,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

But the law bug bit. Cleesattle worked as a law clerk in the District of Columbia before landing at a firm that handled media law. She later became a partner and moved to the San Diego office.<\/p>\n

About 12 years in, she went to work for the state\u2019s Department of Justice in 2007 and is steeped in employment law. She also spent a year overseeing the office\u2019s tort and condemnation section statewide.<\/p>\n

Cleesattle said her judicial philosophy is \u201cto be open-minded and fair.\u201d A judge, she said, \u201cis an advocate for truth, for justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy obligation is to apply the law fairly and objectively in every case,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Noakes<\/a> is an administrative law judge with the Health and Human Services Agency under California\u2019s Department of Social Services.<\/p>\n

\"AdamAdam Noakes. (Courtesy of Adam Noakes)<\/p>\n

Noakes, 45, knew from an early age that he wanted to be an attorney after one successfully helped his mother fight an automotive company over a lemon of a car. \u201cI want to be someone that can be an influence for good,\u201d he said. But the route was not direct.<\/p>\n

After graduating from high school, he served two years as a church missionary in Brazil, even learning Portuguese. After he returned, the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, prompted him to enlist in the U.S. Army.<\/p>\n

Noakes was selected to be a part of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as The OId Guard, which is the Army\u2019s official ceremonial unit and escort to the president. At night, he attended the University of Maryland. He later graduated from UCLA\u2019s law school before securing a job as a civil litigator in San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a great litigator, and I was a great advocate, but I\u2019ve got to tell you \u2014 in my heart, I was a neutral,\u201d Noakes said. He said he wanted to \u201creally be someone that resolves disputes in a way that brings harmony and reconciliation \u2014 and I think judges, at their best, that\u2019s what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to apply the law as it is written,\u201d he said of his judicial philosophy. \u201cI think that\u2019s what people want, and that\u2019s what we should expect of our judges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Office No. 32<\/p>\n

Three candidates are running for Office No. 32: Nicole D\u2019Ambrogi, David Gallo and Tia Ramirez.<\/p>\n

\"NicoleNicole D\u2019Ambrogi. (Courtesy of Nicole D\u2019Ambrogi)<\/p>\n

D\u2019Ambrogi<\/a> is an attorney whose practice has focused primarily on trust and estate law. She is also an adjunct professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, where she is the director of clinical programs and previously oversaw the Veterans Legal Clinic. She has an advanced legal degree in international tax.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Ambrogi, 40, is also a U.S. Navy veteran and was a master-at-arms with the Navy\u2019s law enforcement and security arm. She took college classes with an eye toward becoming an attorney and kept her homework in her flak jacket. \u201cI had to fit in my studies where I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her firm, San Diego Legacy Law, handles cases such as trusts, estates, probates, guardianships and conservatorships.<\/p>\n

She said her\u00a0legal practice, teaching, pro bono work and the military shaped her view of the legal system. In her written questions and answers with the Union-Tribune, she said they taught her to \u201cbe prepared, disciplined, and compassionate, while still making difficult decisions when the law requires it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve walked the path with clients firsthand, and I\u2019ve seen the real impact of the courts in real lives,\u201d she said in an interview. \u201cI think that gives me perspective that is very unique because my clients aren\u2019t the government. My clients are real people, and they\u2019re paying for the system out of their pocket, and that is a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gallo<\/a> is a certified legal specialist in civil trial advocacy, and his practice includes employment law and complex business litigation. His firm\u2019s website indicates he has more than 20 years of experience in \u201cwage disputes, employment law violations, and high-stakes business litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Gallo. (Courtesy of David Gallo)<\/p>\n

Gallo did not speak with the Union-Tribune for a personal interview but did submit responses to the written questionnaire sent to all local judicial candidates in the June primary.<\/p>\n

In those responses, Gallo wrote that he has \u201csuccessfully litigated against multi-billion-dollar companies represented by 1,000-lawyer law firms. My work has often involved representation of employees (and groups of employees) who have not been paid properly, as well as class-action and commercial litigation.\u201d Gallo said he also volunteers to lead trial advocacy workshops.<\/p>\n

As for his judicial philosophy, Gallo wrote, in part: \u201cJudges \u2014 especially trial-court judges \u2014 are supposed to follow the law (i.e., not make the law).\u201d He wrote that his objective \u201cwould be to apply my unique abilities and experience to see that litigants obtain just results according to law \u2014 and in the most timely and cost-effective way possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ramirez<\/a> is a chief deputy city attorney for the city of San Diego and currently leads the City Attorney\u2019s Office\u2019s Gun Violence Reduction Unit.<\/p>\n

\"TiaTia Ramirez. (Courtesy of Tia Ramirez)<\/p>\n

She graduated from San Diego State University (she\u2019s also a Rancho Bernardo High School alum) with a degree in criminal justice. She later joined the San Diego City Attorney\u2019s Office as an investigator, then moved up to run a team of investigators. A chief deputy attorney encouraged her to become an attorney.<\/p>\n

She went on to attend Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego \u2014 while still working and with two toddlers at home \u2014 and started working as a deputy city attorney after passing the bar in 2015. Her work included taking cases to trial.<\/p>\n

Ramirez was the chief of the office\u2019s Domestic Violence and Sex Crimes Unit when she left to work as an administrative law judge for the state of California. She said she really enjoyed the work but found it too isolating because she worked from home. Ramirez soon returned to the City Attorney\u2019s Office and, within three months, was promoted to run the Gun Violence Reduction Unit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have an unparalleled background of experience,\u201d she said. \u201cMost don\u2019t have the civil experience, prosecutorial experience, judicial experience and leadership experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are 135 judicial seats in San Diego Superior Court. Terms run six years. Superior Court judges earn an annual salary of nearly $245,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although there are several San Diego Superior Court judicial seats on the ballot in the June primary, the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":802254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[7373,5229,1582,276,356,8988,90,1370,728,8629,50,80,3549,3550,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-802253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-2026-elections","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-courts","13":"tag-election","14":"tag-elections","15":"tag-latest-headlines","16":"tag-local-news","17":"tag-local-politics","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-politics","20":"tag-san-diego","21":"tag-san-diego-county","22":"tag-sandiego","23":"tag-united-states","24":"tag-united-states-of-america","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116588427796047346","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}