Gonzalo C. MartinezIncumbent

Candidate for Court of Appeal Justice, California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division 7, Seat 1

Gonzalo C. Martinez is the Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 7, in Los Angeles. He earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard College. He also earned a master's degree in English from Stanford University. He then earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School. In private practice, he was first an associate at a firm called Morrison & Foerster LLP, from 2003 to 2005. After that, he was an associate at a firm called Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass, from 2005 to 2007. Later on, he became a partner in the Appellate and Supreme Court Practice Group at Squire Patton Boggs. He held that post in 2007 through 2017, and again in 2019. He also worked as a law clerk in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of California. From 2017 to 2019, he served as a deputy solicitor general in the office of the California Attorney General. There, he stood for the state in big civil and criminal matters. These came up in state and federal courts, and even in the U.S. Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court. From 2019 to 2023, he was deputy judicial appointments secretary for Gov. Gavin Newsom. In that role, he gave advice on the pick of nearly 400 judges statewide. Gov. Newsom put his name up for the Court of Appeal in March 2023. The Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed him as an Associate Justice of Division 7 on July 10, 2023. Newsom then put him up to be Presiding Justice of Division 7. He was confirmed and sworn in on May 14, 2024. On November 3, 2026, voters in the district will mark yes or no on whether to keep him in his seat. This will be his first retention vote of this kind on the appeals court. Votes of this kind are nonpartisan, and no one is running against him.

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