As the Registrar of Voters' Office is mailing out the first wave of ballots to permanent absentee voters across the county today, many of us still do not know very much about the candidates running for Orange County Superior Court Judge in Office Number: 4, 8 and 12.

So to be more informed about who to vote for, I decided to contact those judicial candidates myself and the first person that responded was Michael Flory.

Michael Flory, a deputy district attorney, is running for Superior Court Judge, Office No. 12.   Flory is running against three other candidates.  As of March 17, Flory has raised $36,500 and also loaned an additional $7,000 to his campaign.  He already spent $37,394 and as of the latest reporting period, is only sitting on $6,731.  The lion share of his expenditures was for the filling fee and 200-word ballot statement.

Flory's campaign is managed by Dennis DeSnoo, a veteran political consultant.  For those who may not know, DeSnoo was one of the masterminds behind the signatures gathering effort to overturn the re-appointment of Harald Martin to the Anaheim Union High School District.  He also provided political service to then-Yorba Linda Councilman Mike Duvall in 2004.

During my email exchanges with Flory, I asked him why the voters of Orange County should elect him over his opponents and this is his response:

In my race I am the only judicial candidate who is a career Deputy District Attorney.  I am the only Deputy District Attorney in the race who has conducted a jury trial as a prosecutor.  In fact, I have tried 74 jury trials and countless court trials as a prosecutor.  I have also handled thousands of cases as a deputy district attorney ranging from the most violent of offenders down to minor traffic infractions.  For my dedication and hard work, in 2003, I was awarded the prestigious "Prosecutor of the Year" award by the Orange County Narcotics Association.  Additionally, I am the only candidate in the field who has taught fellow deputy district attorneys, police officers and police agencies classes on the following legal issues: trial tactics, venue, cross-examination, direct examination, voir dire issues, testifying in trial and wall cases. 

On who is his favorite Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court:

John Roberts is my favorite Justice on the current Supreme Court.  He is conservative, clear and concise in his thinking and a non-activist jurist.

On what is his area of legal expertise:

Criminal law is the area of my legal expertise.  I have dedicated the last 15 years of my career to prosecuting cases as a deputy district attorney.

On how much money he will need to make the November run-off election:

I believe I will need to creatively spend $60,000 in order to make the November run-off.

I suspect the campaign low ball the amount because in reality, they will need at least $100,000 since filling fee and the statement alone already burned more than $30,000.  We will get a better picture of Flory's fundraising strength in late May when the second round of reporting is due.

For more information on the Mike Flory for Judge campaign, you can visit his website at www.mikefloryforocjudge.com.