REVIEW-JOURNAL ENDORSEMENT: District Court, Department 22

In Department 22, Judge Susan Johnson is running against Ben Nadig, a private attorney and former deputy city attorney for Las Vegas.

Judge Johnson, a graduate of McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific, has been on the bench since 2006 and won re-election in 2008 and 2014. She has scored modestly well in the Review-Journal’s Judging the Judges survey, earning a 68 percent retention rating in 2019 and a 71 percent rating in 2013, getting high marks for objectivity. During her time on the bench, she has been a friend to openness and transparency and in 2016 slapped down a Boulder City municipal judge who issued an ill-considered gag order on a defendant.

Judge Johnson earned the ire of progressives in 2017 when she made an ill-advised joke, telling several felons in her courtroom that if they followed through on their probation obligations they could have their voting rights restored in time to vote for Donald Trump. The judge apologized. That incident shouldn’t overshadow her 35 years of legal experience, including 14 on the bench.

We recommend Judge Susan Johnson in Department 22.