Live Updates California Elections Bay Area Elections Presidential Election

Superior Court Judge, Seat 1

Candidate with majority vote wins seat. If no candidate reaches majority, top two candidates advance to runoff in general election.

Michael Begert(incumbent)61.5%

124,943 votes

Chip Zecher38.4%

78,017 votes

Updated at 6:50 PM PT on March 21, 2024
San Francisco County

Why does this race matter?

Superior Court judicial seats are rarely contested. But recently, some politicians and city residents have called for judges to hand down harsher sentences for fentanyl drug dealing and other crimes such as burglary and theft, spurring a challenge for two seats.

What does a Superior Court judge do?

Superior Court judges oversee criminal and civil trials in their county. Judges hear evidence and render verdicts and sentences, or preside over jury trials. Judges are required to have passed the bar or served as a judge for ten years before the election. The winner of this election will serve a six-year term.

Candidates

Michael BegertSuperior Court Judge

Albert “Chip” ZecherFormer City Council Member, city of Napa

Key Supporters

For Begert

Scott Wiener, state senator
Paul Miyamoto, sheriff, San Francisco
Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club
The San Francisco Democratic Party
Art Agnos, former mayor, San Francisco

For Zecher

Stop Crime Action
Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club
Greg Suhr, former police chief
Matt Dorsey, supervisor, San Francisco
Edwin M. Lee Asian Pacific Democratic Club

Positions on Key Issues

What are your strongest qualifications to serve as an SF Superior Court Judge?

Begert highlights his 13 years as a Superior Court judge and his work as an attorney for 21 years in what he calls the “highest level of legal practice.” He says working with groups like the Asian Law Caucus and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights taught him “every person you're talking to has issues that are important to them, you need to respect that and you need to treat people with dignity.”

Zecher believes judges should “not have any biases on the bench.” He points to an adage, “It’s better that 1,000 guilty people go free than one innocent person go to jail.” He says, “I take that task very seriously.” Being a gay man shapes his experience of equity. “I’ve hit glass ceilings in my career,” he says. “It heightens one’s sensibilities.”

Judges are tasked with applying the law, and they utilize their discretion in specific situations like sentencing. What should a judge’s thought processes be when using discretion in a criminal court?

Begert says his approach is to contribute to a safer community, and believes punishment for its own sake is wrong. “If you want to have a system that's draconian and just based on dispensing revenge, then you don't really care about what the ultimate outcome is.” Begert is among the judges rolling out the state’s CARE courts, where people with mental health issues can be compelled into treatment. By design, “I don’t send anybody to jail.”

Zecher says he’s limited in discussing how he’d exercise discretion due to ethics rules that bar judicial candidates from discussing how they’d rule to avoid bias. “I have to be very careful.” A judge does have to “assure that that defendant is not a risk to public safety or the victim's safety. So that's when you can use your discretion.”

Should judges’ courtroom decisions reflect public opinion? Please explain your reasoning.

Begert says “we’re part of a community, that’s why you have human beings doing this job.” At the same time, a “big principle” in the judiciary is operating under the rule of law. While what the public wants matters, because a judge is a public servant, ultimately, it is the legislative and executive branches that should respond to public opinion by passing new laws, or adjusting old ones, for judges to enforce.

Zecher says judges would not be successful or effective “if they were always raising their finger and understanding where the prevailing wind is coming” to decide how they rule. The role of a judge is to follow the law, “not legislate from the bench.” However, the public can make their voice heard on the judicial process by voting on a judge every six years, he says.

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is among the people who have accused judges of inappropriately releasing people, particularly alleged fentanyl dealers, after their arrests. Do you share the view that fentanyl dealers have been inappropriately released by Superior Court judges? Please explain your reasoning.

Begert says “my role is to follow the law.” He points to flyers in the Mission District, that allege he granted the release of a fentanyl user. Begert says the district attorney asked to dismiss the case for a lack of evidence. The idea that he let this person free “was a complete falsehood.”

Zecher praises Jenkins, and calls her a “phenomenal” person “working hard to make San Francisco safe.” Zecher says his mother, a former Santa Clara County judge, taught him that judges are “guardians of public safety.” So when he heard Jenkins’ statement, he asked “how is it possible we have judges who are not in the same vein that I understood judges should be?” He says this race is largely about “answering that call.”

More San Francisco Results

U.S. House of Representatives, District 11

Top two candidates advance to general election.

Nancy Pelosi (D)(incumbent)73.2%

138,285 votes

Bruce Lou (R)8.6%

16,285 votes

Marjorie Mikels (D)4.9%

9,363 votes

Race called at 5:31 PM PT on March 11, 2024
99% of votes countedAssociated Press

U.S. House of Representatives, District 15

Top two candidates advance to general election.

Anna Kramer (R)

Kevin Mullin (D)(incumbent)

Race called at 8:00 PM PT on March 5, 2024
Associated Press

State Senate, District 11

Top two candidates advance to general election.

Scott Wiener (D)(incumbent)72.9%

166,592 votes

Yvette Corkrean (R)15%

34,438 votes

Cynthia Cravens (D)8.1%

18,513 votes

Race called at 7:01 PM PT on March 11, 2024
99% of votes countedAssociated Press

State Assembly, District 17

Top two candidates advance to general election.

Matt Haney (D)(incumbent)81.9%

90,915 votes

Manuel Noris-Barrera (R)12.4%

13,843 votes

Otto Duke (D)5.6%

6,245 votes

Race called at 5:36 PM PT on March 11, 2024
99% of votes countedAssociated Press

State Assembly, District 19

Top two candidates advance to general election.

Catherine Stefani (D)57%

64,960 votes

David Lee (D)28.9%

33,035 votes

Nadia Flamenco (R)7.3%

8,335 votes

Race called at 4:50 PM PT on March 11, 2024
99% of votes countedAssociated Press