Most people don't vote in judicial elections — but judges affect your life more than almost any elected official. On this episode of Talking Downey, former Mayor Mario Guerra sits down with David DeJute, candidate for Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, Seat #87.

DeJute is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, a Harvard Law graduate, a law professor at Pepperdine/Caruso School of Law, and someone who took a significant pay cut to run two disaster relief clinics — one after the Woolsey Fire in 2018 and another after the Palisades and Eaton Fires in 2025 — providing free legal help to victims targeted by predatory contractors.

He also happens to be an openly gay man who's been with his partner for 40 years. He didn't put that at the top of his campaign. But it's shaped how he sees fairness, tolerance, and who deserves to be heard in a courtro ...