Don't elect Carlos Dammeier to Los Angeles County Superior Court Office No. 131

The judicial races are a long blur of names for pretty much everyone. That’s why, over the last six weeks, the Opinion team sought to survey and interview all of the candidates in contested races. We interviewed all but two of the candidates, Frank Amador and Thanayi Lindsey, who were both rated “Not Qualified” by the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

The lone purpose of this short commentary is to specifically warn Angelenos against voting for Carlos Dammeier, better known as Dieter Carlos Dammeier, a perennial candidate for judge across California who the editorial board has had to deal with for a decade.

Columnist Rafael Perez, after interviewing Dammeier, summarized his record thusly: “the alleged rapsheet against him is both comical and alarming.” Read more here.

Indeed, the editorial board of this newspaper warned voters in San Bernardino County in 2024 not to vote for him and also in 2016.

Here’s what we warned a decade ago: “All in all, Mr. Dammeier's resume of disreputable actions strikes us as something far short of judicial.”

Angelenos, consider yourselves warned. He may have dropped the Dieter, but he’s still Dieter Carlos Dammeier.

Check out our list of endorsed candidates here.

Sal Rodriguez, the opinion editor of the Southern California News Group, can be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com

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