Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s penchant for appointing Democratic judges is angering the governor’s fellow Republicans, who say GOP jurists should get a bigger share of the prized judgeships. The majority of the governor’s appointments go to either Democrats or those who decline to state a preference.
The flames of the Republicans’ displeasure — usually expressed privately out of fear of angering Schwarzenegger or his staff — were fanned anew two weeks ago after Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of four more Democrats to the superior court in Los Angeles. Thus far this year, Schwarzenegger has given 10 of 13 Los Angeles judgeships to Democrats. In February, Schwarzenegger named four Democrats to the Los Angeles bench in one day. "Yeah, we all heard about those judges in L.A. But those aren’t the only ones. Everybody wants to know what’s going on here," said one Assembly GOP aide.
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Since taking office in November 2003, Schwarzenegger has appointed 85 judges, 41 of them Republicans. Of the 44 others, 33 are Democrats and 11 people are decline-to-state. Democrats — who acknowledge that they have been pleasantly surprised — say Schwarzenegger is making quality appointments and minimizing partisanship. Politically, there is a contrast to the earlier Republican administrations of Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian, which both had a higher proportion of partisan appointments.
Can't wait for his pick to replace Janice Roger Brown. Anybody know when that is coming?
Last I saw, Schwarzenegger said he would announce it after the Special Election.