Guerrero-Daley selected as Superior Court judge Guerrero-Daley selected as Superior Court judge (March 05, 2004)

November runoff for Bonini, Colin

By Julie O'Shea

Teresa Guerrero-Daley, an independent police auditor for the city of San Jose, received 58 percent of the vote Tuesday for a six-year judgeship on the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Her opponent was Mountain View resident and trial attorney William Monahan.

Her term is scheduled to begin January 5, 2005, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could choose to appoint her in May when Judge Richard Turrone retires.

While Seat 18 was secured Tuesday night, there will be a runoff for Seat 7 in the November election. Griffin Bonini, a trial attorney for the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, was the frontrunner in Tuesday's race with 45 percent of the vote, but he didn't have the majority it took to win. He will face Enrique Colin, an attorney with the Public Defender's Office, later this year. Colin received 32. 44 percent of the "yes" vote.

Seat 7 was vacated by retired Judge Jerald Infantino.

"I'm hoping to take some of the momentum that was there last night into November," Bonini said Wednesday morning.

Bonini, who grew up on the Stanford campus and is a graduate of Gunn High School in Palo Alto, said earlier that he just wanted to make it into the runoff, but as Tuesday night wore on and it was clear he was leading, his tune changed. "If only I had gotten five more percentage points," Bonini said.

Guerrero-Daley greeted exuberant supporters at a victory party last night as the newly-minted judge announced that she was "really happy."

Asked what was on her agenda for the morning after her win, Guerrero-Daley quickly said: "Tomorrow? What I want to do is take a day off."

Guerroro-Daley has six years of criminal law experience and spends her free time mentoring young girls and teaching classes at Lincoln Law School. Originally from Texas, she feels her diverse background will help her to be a compassionate judge. She earned her undergraduate degree from San Jose State University and her law degree at Lincoln University.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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