Attorneys file for seats held by judges who scored low on RJ survey

Attorneys are running for the seats held by several judges who scored poorly on the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s 2025 Judicial Performance Evaluation.

All District Court and Family Court seats — 58 in total — will be on the ballot in 2026. Though some incumbents and hopefuls have already announced that they are running, Monday was the first day they could officially file with Clark County. The filing period for judicial candidates closes Jan. 16.

The Review-Journal survey allowed attorneys to provide anonymous feedback, including whether or not they wanted each judge to remain on the bench.

District Judges Erika Ballou, Ronald Israel and Jessica Peterson received low retention scores and now have potential challengers.

Peterson has filed for re-election. As of early Monday afternoon, it was not clear whether Ballou and Israel planned to run; the county’s website showed that they had not yet filed.

Colleen Brown, who has been known as Colleen Baharav in her role as a Clark County prosecutor, is running for the Department 24 seat occupied by Ballou, who was suspended without pay for six months in September after defying the Nevada Supreme Court.

In the Review-Journal’s Judicial Performance Evaluation, Ballou received the lowest retention score of all judges, 32.8 percent. That means only about a third of attorneys who provided feedback for her thought she should remain a judge.

Brown said Ballou’s low retention score was not a factor in her decision to run. She said she was interested in Department 24 for its split between civil and criminal cases and the fact that she knew Ballou would likely draw an opponent.

“I believe I’m a fair person, I’m competent, I’m always prepared and I think I would make a good judge because our judges should be that: fair, competent and prepared,” she said.

Another prosecutor, Alexander Quagge, also filed for a District Court seat. He is running for Department 28, currently held by Israel.

Quagge said he has wanted to be a judge since he became a lawyer and thinks all people should be treated with fairness, dignity and respect.

Just 50.7 percent of attorneys who provided feedback for Israel wanted him to remain a judge, meaning he narrowly avoided not being recommended for retention.

“I guess it would be one factor, sure,” said Quagge when asked about the influence of the survey score on his decision to run.

Peterson, whose retention score was 54.2 percent, is being challenged by Austin Beaumont, who is also a prosecutor.

Beaumont said in a phone interview that he made the decision to run against Peterson before learning of her score.

“A trial court needs someone with real trial experience and someone who interprets the law correctly and consistently and someone who gives equal respect to everyone present in the courtroom,” he said.

Peterson has previously said that she works hard to study the law and prepare. Like some other judges, she showed up early to the Clark County Government Center to file for re-election.

“I wanted to make sure that there was no doubt that I was going to be running again,” she said.

Other judges expressed a similar sentiment.

“I wanted to make sure that my seat didn’t look like I was open, like I was not intending to run, because I’m absolutely running,” said Family Court Judge Michele Mercer.

“I think everybody is nervous,” she added.

Mercer received a retention score of 48.1 percent on the Judicial Performance Evaluation, meaning less than half of attorneys who provided feedback for her think she should continue being a judge.

Others showed up early for reasons more practical than strategic.

“I’ve got calendars on all my other days,” said District Judge Bita Yeager. “It’s also my birthday today.”

Family Court Judge Mari Parlade said filing for re-election was a good way to kick off the new year.

Parlade said she’s running again because she is committed to serving children and families. “This is a fulfillment of a calling,” she said.

Family Court Judge Kerri Maxey said she wanted to show the public how serious she is about her position.

“I love my job,” she said. “That’s why I’m filing. I really enjoy helping families in crisis and applying family law.”

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.