Sharon Majors-Lewis

All eyes were on the former San Diego County prosecutor, when she took the job as the governor's judicial appointments secretary. In the year and a half since, she has been finding fans among the ethnic bar associations. The groups criticized Schwarzenegger for appointing too few minorities to the bench, but this African American woman, they say, has begun to reverse the trend. More women and minorities have also sent in their applications. According to data released by the governor's office, 4.5 percent more women applied for judgeships in 2007 than in 2006, and the minority judicial applicant pool increased 2 percent.