March primary election will decide new Superior Court judges

For nearly all races on the San Diego County primary election ballot, the top two vote-getters will move on to November’s general election.

Not so for the judicial seats. Next week’s primary winners will be elected to the bench.

That’s because judge contests are unique in that a candidate who wins more than 50 percent of votes in the primary election is the winner. With just two candidates in each of the two contested races, the winners will secure the simple majority they need to avoid a November runoff.

A senior assistant state attorney general is squaring off against a deputy district attorney for Office No. 41, while a family law litigator is up against a deputy district attorney for Office No. 43.

Two Superior Court commissioners are running unopposed for two other seats.

The San Diego County Bar Association gave all six candidates its top rating of “exceptionally qualified” — a rating given to just one of seven candidates during the 2022 primary election. That means the organization believes each of this year’s candidates possesses “exceptional professional ability, experience, competence, integrity and/or temperament to perform the judicial function.”

The following is a brief look at each race by numerical order, with the candidates for the contested seats listed alphabetically by last name.

Office No. 19

Rosy Meyerowitz is a San Diego Superior Court commissioner who is the only candidate on the ballot for this seat.

Commissioners are attorneys selected by the court’s judges and given powers to hear and make decisions in certain family and juvenile court cases, as well as criminal, traffic, small claims and unlawful detainer cases.

Meyerowitz was born in Mexico City but moved to San Diego at a young age, she told The San Diego Union-Tribune. While in law school at California Western, from which she graduated in 2009, she clerked for the California Attorney General’s Office, the California Innocence Project, and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. She then worked as a graduate law clerk and deputy district attorney in San Diego for nearly three years. She spent seven years working for the San Diego Superior Court’s legal services division before being appointed a commissioner.

Office No. 38

Kelly Mertsoc, 54, is a San Diego Superior Court commissioner who is the only candidate on the ballot for this seat.

Mertsoc, a 2000 graduate of the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, told the Union-Tribune she became a certified family law specialist in 2008. She worked as a family law solo practitioner from 2000 to 2011, when she was appointed as a court commissioner. In that role she has heard many types of cases, including family law, civil, traffic, small claims and child support matters. She is currently assigned to North County Superior Court hearing family law and limited civil matters.

Office No. 41

Jodi Cleesattle, a senior assistant attorney general with the California Department of Justice, is running against Brian Erickson, a San Diego County deputy district attorney.

Before she became a litigator, Cleesattle, 55, of Kensington, was a reporter at a small Ohio newspaper and then co-founded and edited for six years The National Jurist, a magazine for law students.

A 1990 graduate of American University Washington College of Law, Cleesattle worked as a law clerk in the District of Columbia early in her career before moving into private practice for 12 years. She became a California deputy attorney general in 2007, working her way up to a supervisor role before reaching her current position of senior assistant attorney general.

“As a trial lawyer for 30 years, trying complex cases in state and federal courts in California and nationwide, I have the breadth of experience needed to handle any type of case as a judge of the San Diego Superior Court,” Cleesattle told the Union-Tribune. “Even more importantly, I have been committed to serving our community, volunteering to help the most vulnerable and taking leadership roles in organizations devoted to equality and equal justice. As a judge, I will work hard to make sure our courts work for our community — providing fairness, compassion, common sense, and access to justice for all.”

Erickson, 56, of Rancho Peñasquitos, is currently assigned to the district attorney’s cold case homicide division, where he specializes in solving long dormant murder cases by using genetic genealogy.

Brian Erickson

(Courtesy photo)

A 1995 graduate of California Western School of Law, Erickson began his career as a Tuolumne County deputy district attorney for two years before working six years as a deputy in the San Diego City Attorney’s Office. He’s been a deputy district attorney in San Diego the last two decades.

“In my 29 years of experience serving the people of California as a deputy district attorney and deputy city attorney, I have demonstrated my dedication to protecting victims and safeguarding our community,” Erickson told the Union-Tribune. “As a judge, I will ensure public safety by being firm but fair and seeking just and equitable consequences for those who break the law. I believe that my commitment to public safety, extensive experience, including 110 jury trials in the Superior Court, and extensive bipartisan support make me the most qualified candidate.”

Office No. 43

Koryn Sheppard, a solo practitioner of family law, is running against Valerie Summers, a San Diego County deputy district attorney.

Koryn Sheppard

(Courtesy photo)

Sheppard, a 43-year-old East County resident, began her career practicing both criminal and family law, but later focused on the latter, becoming a certified family law specialist in 2018. From 2012 to 2023 she worked for six firms as a family law litigator and currently works as a solo practitioner of family law. She’s also an adjunct professor at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, where she teaches California civil procedure.

“The San Diego County bench has many fine judges with a strong background in criminal law,” Sheppard told the Union-Tribune. “However, there is a dire need for bench officers with strong civil backgrounds. I bring education and experience in an area of the law that impacts many individuals, families, and children. Family law deals with a variety of complex issues, from business valuation and taxes to child development and psychology, from taxes to domestic violence. I want to help other bench officers in family courtrooms benefit from my experience — even if I am not in a family law courtroom myself, I am able to provide both my knowledge and hard-won insights from the last fifteen years of varied practice.”

Summers, of Encinitas, has worked her entire career for the District Attorney’s Office. That includes working as assistant chief of the gang prosecution unit (2007 to 2011), as chief of the sex crimes and human trafficking division (2011 to 2013) and as chief of the family protection division (2013 to 2016).

She has also taught criminal justice courses at UC San Diego since 2007 and previously taught similar courses at California State University San Marcos from 1996 to 2005.

“In the 35 years that I have had the honor of serving San Diego as a deputy district attorney, I have earned a reputation for integrity, fairness, and exceptional legal knowledge,” Summers told the Union-Tribune. “That is why 70 judges and San Diego’s most experienced defense attorneys endorse me. I have a proven record of commitment to justice and public safety; that is why I am endorsed by Crime Victims United, District Attorney Summer Stephan, Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, San Diego Police Officers’ Association, and every city’s law enforcement Police Officers’ Association in the county. My experience is unparalleled and as a Superior Court judge I will continue my commitment to fairness, justice, and public safety.”