This story will be updated.

Early returns Tuesday showed Katina Saint Marie edging incumbent Lane County Circuit Judge Amit Kapoor in the nonpartisan election for Position 6 in Oregon’s 2nd Judicial District.

Saint Marie had garnered 51.2% of the vote so far compared to 48.2% for Kapoor, with 44,932 votes counted as of 8 p.m., the Secretary of State website reported. The preliminary totals do not add up to 100% because of write-in ballots.

Voters had the opportunity to cast ballots in a contested judicial race. Appointments by the governor are the most common path to the position. Once appointed, judges must run for reelection. But at least in recent years, those already on the bench have rarely faced opposition.

Six other Lane County Circuit Court judges — Bradley A. Cascagnette, Charles M. Zennaché, Kamala H. Shugar, Clara L. Rigmaiden, Jessica E. May and Allison Knight — ran unopposed.

Kapoor has been a judge since a 2020 governor’s appointment and previously worked as a public defender. Saint Marie is a family law practitioner in Eugene and a pro-tem circuit court judge.

Voters elect circuit court judges to six-year terms in nonpartisan races. Circuit court judges preside over civil and criminal cases and often have assignments to other specialty courts, such as drug court. They are paid $204,060 a year.

Both candidates ran campaigns highlighting their experience.

Kapoor, 49, in advertisements, also cited endorsements from elected officials past and present, including former Gov. Kate Brown and Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson. 

Saint Marie, 53, on social media appeared in videos where she discussed her approach to disputes in court. She also highlighted endorsements, mostly from other attorneys.

In written responses to questions from Lookout, both said their personal experiences shaped them as judges.

“My life experience absolutely shapes who I am as a judge. As a trained structural sociologist I studied social and legal frameworks, including the importance of the jury process and the value of our adversarial system,” Kapoor wrote, in part. 

Kapoor finished a master’s degree in sociology from the University of Iowa, where he also studied sociology as a doctoral student, in addition to earning a law degree.

In an interview, Kapoor spoke about his experience as an immigrant from India who arrived in the United States as an eighth-grader.

He said his background gives him “a sense of disempowerment,” comparing an immigrant’s concern about speaking English with an accent to what people experience in court.

For many, “you’re going to a place you’re not that familiar with,” Kapoor said. “People are speaking a version of a language that you’re not deeply fluent with, and other people around you seem to have a better idea of what’s really going on and what’s expected.”

As a judge, he said he works to build trust in the system by making sure to read all materials before child dependency hearings, for example, as he wants parents to know “the courts are not here to snatch their babies.”

For any case, “I try to think of, how can I best be of service to this person, these facts, and the law that applies in these circumstances,” Kapoor said, calling it a skill built through experience.

Saint Marie wrote about how her first experience in court was as “a young parent in a divorce case — scared and unsure what to expect.” She wrote that she “had to get a restraining order during a very frightening time in my life.”

“The judge who heard my case listened, spoke clearly, and said words that gave me hope. I left knowing I had been heard and treated fairly,” Saint Marie wrote. “That experience is the reason I became a lawyer. And it is the reason I care so deeply about how people are treated in the courtroom.”

In an interview, Saint Marie said it took her 13 years to complete an associate degree “because I was working and supporting my kids.”

She went on to complete a doctorate in English literature after finishing law school, but spoke of relating to the struggles of others.

Saint Marie said the court system should “meet people where they are at.”

“I get reminders on my phone about every single other appointment that I have, but I don’t think people are getting phone reminders about their court dates,” Saint Marie told Lookout. For the courts, she said it’s important to ask, “How can we improve our systems to make it more user-friendly?”