Commissioner Elizabeth Tucker has won the position of Riverside judge with 58% of the vote.
Riverside County’s certified official vote count has her with 483,252 votes, compared to her opponent, prosecutor Gerald Pfohl, who has 349,075.
“I think in our justice system, people need to feel, and believe, and know that their voice will be heard, and there’s an opportunity for justice. The courts are the last safeguards of people’s rights,” Tucker said by phone.
“I really believe in our process, our system of justice, our Constitution, the right to be heard and the legal process.”
This marks the first election in which a court commissioner has won a judicial race against a prosecutor since 1998 (Tucker did spend 23 years as a prosecutor before being appointed to her commissionership.) In the 1998 election, Commissioner Becky Dugan won in a race against prosecutor Don Inskeep with a 50.4% to 48.8% vote.
Commissioners do much of the same work managing cases that a judge does, but they are not able to hold trials unless at the consent of both parties. They are appointed and serve at the will of the court’s judges. Tucker manages a juvenile dependency courtroom in the Indio courthouse, and thinks her work will not change.
“I think my assignment will be exactly the same department, with a different name: judge instead of commissioner,” Tucker said.
Despite that, her appointment will allow her more power in the courtroom—parties appearing before her will not need to mutually agree to her holding certain hearings in their cases. It also opens up a new commissioner spot that the judges can fill at their will. It also gives her more clout with which to provide leadership to other judicial officers, a goal she described when interviewed by Follow Our Courts before the election.
“I will be in a better position to provide leadership and guidance in the courts and community,” she said this week by phone.
Tucker also appeared to defy the odds in election contributions as well. Pfohl received $168,000 in contributions, with $110,000 from the Riverside County Deputy District Attorney’s Association PAC, while Tucker received $59,500, according to Transparency USA.
“People told me at the very beginning that money wins elections, and it doesn’t matter who the more experienced or qualified candidate is,” Tucker said.
They spent their cash differently as well. Tucker’s most expensive payment was $19,000 to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, followed by $8,000 to the printers Promotivators, $6,000 to California Outdoor Graphic Service South and $5,000 to Sc Strategies.
Pfohl spent $40,000 on Troast and Associates, $35,000 on Dobler Strategies, $24,000 to California Outdoor Graphic Service South and $19,000 to Modern Cartographers and the Registrar of Voters each.
Tucker attributed her victory to the connections she made all over the county through volunteering over the past 30 years.
She has served as the president, treasurer, secretary and foundation chair of the Indio Rotary Club. She also volunteers with her daughter at multiple homelessness-support organizations, including the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission and Martha’s Village and Kitchen, through the National Charity League. She has also volunteered at the women’s health organization Mama’s House, the Coachella Valley Horse Rescue, the botanical garden Living Desert, her local Girl Scout troop, and in high school mock trial programs. Prior to being a commissioner in 2017, she spent 23 years with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
