June 21, 2012 - Giuliani win upheld in judge’s race

Source: Hanford Sentinel, The (CA)
Title: Giuliani win upheld in judge’s race
Date: June 21, 2012
Author: Seth Nidever, Hanford Sentinel

HANFORD — Kings County election officials have certified Hanford attorney Jennifer Giuliani’s razor-thin victory against incumbent George Orndoff in the race for Kings County Superior Court judge after Orndoff declined to challenge the results.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting and all absentee and provisional ballots tallied, Giuliani won 7,249 votes compared to 7,192 for Orndoff — a winning margin of only 57 votes for the longtime Hanford attorney.

The final results were certified Friday, said Kings County Clerk -Recorder Ken Baird, giving Orndoff five days to challenge the results and ask for a partial or total recount.

Because the race was so close, elections department officials said they manually recounted three precincts to see if the vote-counting machines made a mistake. There were no errors, according to Baird.

Orndoff didn’t ask for a recount by Wednesday’s 5 p.m. deadline, which would have cost him $2,800 a day for a hand tally and $3,800 a day for a machine recount. Orndoff declined to comment on his defeat.

Giuliani, who will take office in January, chalked up her unusually strong showing to being well known in Hanford and Kings County thanks to 15 years of private practice and extensive involvement in community organizations.

“I was born and raised in the community,” she said. “My roots are very, very deep. People know who I am.

“It could have gone either way. I would love to be able to tell you it was a landslide victory, but it’s not.”

Law enforcement endorsements may also have played a decisive role in the election . Kings County Sheriff Dave Robinson and the police officer unions in Lemoore and Hanford backed Giuliani in an apparent sign of their dissatisfaction with Orndoff.

“I think that’s huge,” Giuliani said. “As the sheriff has said, it’s the men and women with their boots on the street. ... Their endorsement is tremendous.”

Caption: Giuliani
Section: Incident Reports
Record Number: 3ff173936ae068a88abd4a7ca8ce9635046bfec
Copyright, 2012, The Hanford Sentinel