Archived Version: August 7, 2012
An information resource for Washington voters
Helen Whitener
Pierce County Superior Court
Department 18
This race will be decided in the Primary Election.
Legal/Judicial Experience: Pro-Tem Judge: Pierce
County District Court and City of Tacoma Municipal Court; Former Deputy
Prosecuting Attorney in Pierce County, Island County and the City of
Olympia; Managing Partner, Criminal and Civil Defense, Whitener Rainey,
P.S.
Other Professional Experience: Whitener worked in International
Marketing prior to law school.
Education: Baruch College, City University of New York, Bachelor
of Business Administration, International Marketing (1988). Seattle
University School of Law, Juris Doctorate (1998).
Community Service: Whitener has lead by example throughout her
legal career reaching out to all factions of the community in a
personalized way by mentoring individuals from the Black, Hispanic,
Asian, and Gay and Lesbian community.
Statement: Whitener is the clear choice for Superior Court Judge.
She has served as a Pro-Tem Judge, Prosecutor, Public Defender and
Private Defense Attorney. As a Pro-Tem Judge, Whitener has presided over
thousands of cases, including Jury Trials. She has been courteous and
professional to all who appeared before her, and has been focused and
decisive in her rulings. She is known to listen with an open mind, and
to be evenhanded and well reasoned in applying the law.
In private practice, Whitener worked to protect the rights of
individuals in criminal, civil and administrative matters. She has an
extensive record of Public Advocacy. As a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney,
she fought to hold offenders accountable as she vigorously protected the
rights of victims and the community at large. As a Public Defender, she
advocated to protect the rights of indigent offenders.
Whitener has handled over 100 trials, and as lead counsel she has
handled complex murder, kidnapping, robbery, rape, burglary and domestic
violence cases. Over the years, she has also handled Appellate,
Administrative, Civil and Contract cases.
Whitener is respected by both the Civil and Criminal Bar and is endorsed
by retired judges, and criminal and civil attorneys.
| ORGANIZATION |
STAN RUMBAUGH |
HELEN WHITENER |
|
Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee |
Well Qualified | * |
|
Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association |
* | Well Qualified |
|
Washington Women Lawyers |
Well Qualified | Well Qualified |
Important note! Each of these organizations uses its own standards and rating terms when evaluating candidates; please check their pages for further information. We do not have ratings from all organizations for all candidates, and the reasons vary. Some evaluations may still be in process, or we might not have received them yet; some candidates may not have been offered an opportunity to participate, or they may have declined to participate. Again, please check the organizations' pages for further details.
Newspaper endorsements (click paper for details):
| NEWSPAPER |
STAN RUMBAUGH |
HELEN WHITENER |
| Tacoma News Tribune |
 |
Finance report:
| CANDIDATE | UPDATED | CONTRIBUTIONS | EXPENDITURES |
| Stan Rumbaugh | 8/3/2012 |
$17,994.55 Personal Funds $5,000.00 Loans $250.00 |
$15,636.64 |
| Helen Whitener | 8/3/2012 |
$18,141.43 Loans $3,000.00 |
$16,634.17 |
| July 14, 2012 | ||
| Tacoma News Tribune | Pierce Superior Court races draw the most candidates since 2004 |
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