Inyo County voters oust presiding judge with 33-ballot margin

In vast but sparsely populated Inyo County, judicial races are sometimes won by less than 100 votes.

On Tuesday, Director of Child Support Services Susanne M. Rizo defeated incumbent Presiding Judge Brian J. Lamb by 33 votes, according to final vote tallies.

The judge, who was elected in November 2002 when his predecessor did not file for re-election, has been disciplined by the Commission on Judicial Performance for tardiness in clearing cases and not reporting it. Lamb received $15,000 from the California Judges Association PAC, which this year began donating to challenged judges.

"Challenging an incumbent is a serious decision," said Rizo, who avoided a runoff by amassing 50.50% percent of the vote. Her campaign collected $6,783, according to state financial disclosure records.

"I also believe that we need fresh energy and ideas in our judiciary. When I look at the success of our small campaign, I am so full of appreciation," Rizo said in an email interview.

Lamb did not respond to phoned and emailed requests for comment Tuesday.

He told the Daily Journal just before the election he had taken blame for the matters pending for over 90 days in his two-judge court, saying he didn't realize the cases were under submission. Since becoming presiding judge, he said he instituted a tracking system.

Presiding Judge Brian J. Lamb

"With that system in place, we haven't had any problems," said Lamb, who hears most of the criminal cases in the county and whose term would end next January. Lamb said it's hard to raise money outside of family and friends. He said races he's run in are usually close, within 100 or so votes.

This is the second time in 12 years Lamb's seat has been contested, and this year's race was as close as elections in Inyo County ever are. Since Friday afternoon, all that separated either Lamb or Rizo from the judgeship was a pool of voters who could all comfortably sit together in a normal-sized Denny's without attracting the attention of the fire marshal.

Inyo County is larger than New Jersey at 10,227 square miles with a population of 18,026 that wouldn't fill the Staples Center stadium in Los Angeles.

With the vote-counting incrementally changing by day, Rizo said late Monday, "This is the 10th time my stomach has flip-flopped."

Inyo County, the second largest in the state after San Bernardino County, runs along the rocky spine of the Eastern Sierras against the Nevada border. It is home to scantly populated unincorporated communities with names like "Crater" and ghost towns such as "Skidoo." It boasts foreboding geological features such as "The Cloudripper" and "Last Chance Mountain." Some ballots have a long way to travel from the far corners to the county courthouse in Independence.

Lamb was given a public admonishment last year for losing track of three family law cases, two of which were delayed by over a year, and for signing salary affidavits saying he didn't have matters pending before him when he did. In 2006, Lamb received a confidential advisory letter and a private admonishment in 2015 for similar delayed matters.

Rizo said that unlike her opponent she was not funded by a political action committee but by voters seeking change. "Our campaign was funded by individuals, some who donated $10 -- and each of those $10 added up -- to make a difference and send a message that we deserve judicial officers who do their job with fairness and dedication and comply with the law," Rizo said in her email Tuesday. "I believe my opponent's ongoing disciplinary record with the Commission on Judicial Performance played a big role in this election."

But despite the daunting and stressful wait, Rizo said she remained positive.

"The election process in our rural counties is a strong part of our local democracy. These results speak to the heart of why judicial elections are so important to rural communities," Rizo said in her email. "As a candidate, I walked door to door. Our local electorate knows the candidates or someone who has worked with them in the past, making our elections more personal. My campaign worked for every vote."

The third candidate in the race, Philip T. Ashworth, an attorney based in Independence, did not respond to requests for comment.