In an unsurprising election with only one judicial race, early results show that the Inland Empire, and San Bernardino County in particular, is less trusting of serving judges.
According to unofficial results, senior Deputy District Attorney Natalie Lough has won election to Riverside Superior Judge with 57% of the vote. Gang and homicide prosecutor Amy Zois Barajas faced her in a run-off election, after neither gained the majority vote in this year’s June 7 primary elections.
| Candidate | Votes | Percent |
| Natalie Lough | 126,668 | 57% |
| Amy Zois Barajas | 95606 | 44% |
The remaining judicial items on the Nov. 8 primary election were retention elections, unique to California, in which sitting appellate justices must be voted in to start a new six-year term at the expiration of their current one. No justice was voted out this year, and only three justices have ever been voted out since the elections began in 1934.
The average vote percent across all retention elections in the state was 71%, in favor of keeping the justices in. The best performing vote was 80% in favor of retention, for Administrative Presiding Justice Mary Greenwood. The lowest was 61%, for Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, Division 1 Justice Truc Do.
| State lowest | State average | State highest |
| 61% | 71% | 80% |
In San Bernardino County, the average vote percent for justices was 61%, 10% lower than the state average and on par with the lowest sum vote for a justice. The county’s lowest vote was 56%, in favor of keeping Do in. San Bernardino voters’ highest vote was 68%, for Court of Appeal, 4th Appellate District, Division 2 Justice Carol Codrington, in Riverside. That means the highest support for a judge in a retention election was below the average across the state.
| Fourth District Court of Appeal Judge | San Bernardino | Riverside |
| Truc Do | 56% | 61% |
| Frank Menetrez | 58% | 62% |
| Joanne Motoike | 59% | 63% |
| Maurice Sanchez | 60% | 63% |
| Michael Raphael | 60% | 64% |
| William Bedsworth | 60% | 62% |
| Martin Buchanan | 61% | 64% |
| Judith McConnell | 62% | 66% |
| Eileen Moore | 63% | 67% |
| Kathleen O’Leary | 64% | 67% |
| Manuel Ramirez | 67% | 70% |
| Carol Codrington | 68% | 71% |
| Averages | 61% | 65% |
Riverside voters gave an additional 4% in votes, on average, for the same retention elections San Bernardino County voters participated in. Riverside voters on average voted 65% to keep justices in, with a high of 71% for Codrington and a low of 61% for Do.
When it comes to the Supreme Court, the state voted 70% to elect Patricia Guerrero as Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, while San Bernardino voted 62% in favor and Riverside voted 66%.
| CA Supreme Justice | San Bernardino County votes | Riverside County votes | State votes |
| Supreme Justice Patricia Guerrero | 62% | 66% | 70% |
| Supreme Justice Goodwin Liu | 60% | 65% | 69% |
| Supreme Justice Martin Jenkins | 61% | 66% | 69% |
The trend continued for other statewide elections. For Proposition 1, which would change the California Constitution to explicitly guarantee a right to abortion, state voters voted 65% in favor, while San Bernardino County voters casted 53% in favor and Riverside voters casted 55% in favor.
For the Attorney General race, early state results show incumbent Rob Bonta leading with 57% of the vote. County clerks’ records show San Bernardino and Riverside county voters favored challenger Nathan Hochman with 53% and 51% of the vote.
