Clallam County

Superior Court

Clallam County is electing a Superior Court judge to a newly-created third position this fall. Four candidates ran in the August 21 primary: Curtis G. Johnson, Craig L. Miller, Brooke Taylor, and Brent Basden. Each candidate's name is linked to his official voter pamphlet information.

Because Brooke Taylor captured over 50% of the vote in the primary election, he will be the only candidate to appear on the general election ballot in November, and he will therefore be the new judge.

The final primary election vote count, certified by the county on September 5:

Candidate	Votes	Percent
Brent Basden	3,468	22.98%
Curtis Johnson	1,995	13.22%
Craig Miller	1,697	11.24%
Brooke Taylor	7,932	52.56%

Cast votes	15,092	89.75%
Over votes	25	0.15%
Under votes	1,698	10.10%

Brooke Taylor

Candidate Statement: Brooke Taylor has 38 years of legal experience, including family law cases, criminal cases, personal injury, real estate and business litigation. He has taken cases to trial in 12 Washington counties, and in Federal Courts in both Seattle and Tacoma. He was the elected prosecuting attorney in Clallam County from 1971 through 1975, and has served as a Superior Court Commissioner for the last 20 years.

Mr. Taylor graduated from Port Angeles High School, Stanford University, and the University of Virginia School of Law. He has been heavily involved in community service since his high school days, earning him a National YMCA Distinguished Service Award in 1994, a Distinguished Service Award from Clallam County Pro-Bono lawyers in 1999 and designation as a Clallam County "Outstanding Citizen" in 1999.

Mr. Taylor has consistently received an "A" rating in the Martindale-Hubbell national legal directory, and is Clallam County’s only "Super Lawyer" in the 2007 evaluation by "Washington Law & Politics." He is the only Clallam County lawyer ever elected president of the 30,000 member Washington State Bar Association in its 118 year history. Brooke Taylor will bring extraordinary experience, unquestioned integrity and proven ability to the Clallam County Superior Court.

Clallam County Bar Association Poll

July 23 — The Bar Association’s poll results for judicial candidates are in. Results based on 9 measures with a grading scale of 1-5 for each measure are as follows:

4.7 Brooke Taylor
3.7 Brent Basden
3.1 Curtis Johnson
3.1 Craig Miller

Measure	Craig Miller	Curtis Johnson	Brent Basden	Brooke Taylor
Temperament	3.0	3.2	3.7	4.8
Demeanor	2.9	3.2	3.8	4.8
Legal Ability	3.8	2.9	3.7	4.9
Admin. Ability	2.8	3.0	3.6	4.3
Organization	2.6	3.1	3.9	4.4
Work Habits	2.6	3.3	4.0	4.6
Experience	3.7	3.3	3.0	4.6
Objectivity/Impartiality	3.3	3.0	3.6	4.6
Judgment/Common Sense	3.1	3.0	3.7	4.6
Average Score	3.1	3.1	3.7	4.7

Note: Bold numbers indicate highest score in that measure.

Finance report:

CANDIDATE	REPORT DATE	CONTRIBUTIONS	EXPENDITURES
Brent Basden	08/14/2007	$3,436.07	$2,699.92
Curtis Johnson	09/30/2007	$5,605.00	$5,604.48
Craig Miller	08/06/2007	$2,689.00	$5,926.31
Brooke Taylor	08/31/2007	$13,327.16	$12,027.20

Media report:

		August 26
Peninsula Daily News		Taylor wins judgeship outright in Clallam County
		August 22
Peninsula Daily News		Taylor takes huge lead, may win Clallam judge outright
		August 21
Peninsula Daily News		All-mail primary elections end in Clallam, Jefferson counties today
		August 8
Sequim Gazette		Early ballot could determine judge position
		June 10
Peninsula Daily News		Who's running in Clallam County elections
		June 5
Peninsula Daily News		Fourth candidate for new Superior Court bench announces
		May 22
Peninsula Daily News		Candidate emerges for newly approved third court bench

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