Michael J. RaphaelIncumbent

Candidate for Court of Appeal Justice, California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division 2, Seat 7

Michael J. Raphael is an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal. He sits on the Fourth Appellate District, Division Two, in Riverside. He earned a B.A. from Rice University in 1990. He earned a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1993. At Yale he was a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal. He clerked for Judge Nathaniel R. Jones. Jones sat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He then practiced as a trial and appellate litigator. This was in the Washington, D.C. office of a national law firm. He served as investigative counsel to a U.S. House committee. That was the Government Reform Committee's inquiry into 1996 campaign fundraising. At the same time he taught as an adjunct professor. This was at George Washington University Law School. He then spent twelve years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. He worked in the Central District of California. From 2007 to 2012 he was chief of the office's criminal appeals section. He later served as a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court. This continued until his elevation. Profiles list his superior-court service as beginning in 2011 or 2012 and ending in 2018. Governor Jerry Brown nominated him to the Court of Appeal. That was on July 24, 2018, to succeed Justice Thomas E. Hollenhorst. The Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation rated him 'exceptionally well qualified.' He was unanimously confirmed and sworn in. That was on August 23, 2018. Voters retained him on November 8, 2022. He got 61.6% voting yes, for a term expiring in January 2027. He appears on the November 3, 2026 ballot. It is a nonpartisan yes/no retention vote for a new 12-year term. No opponent runs.

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