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Opinion: Times endorsement scorecard: 15-1-6

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The point of Times endorsements is not to pick winners, but to back those candidates who would do the best job in the office regardless of whether they have a chance of winning. Still — we want to know how our picks did. And we might even tell ourselves that a Times endorsement helped them cross the finish line first. So here it is:

Los Angeles Superior Court endorsements and results:

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Office 4: We endorsed Ralph Dau. He won. Score one for us.

Office 69: Serena Murillo. She was beaten by Harvey Silberman. We’re 1-1.

Office 72: Hilleri Grossman Merritt. Leading, but she’s in a runoff with Steven Simons. We’re, uh, 1-1-1.

Office 82: Cynthia Loo. Leading, but in a runoff with Thomas Rubinson. 1-1-2.

Office 84: Pat Connolly. Leading, but in a runoff with Lori-Ann Jones. 1-1-3.

Office 94: Michael O’Gara. Leading, but in a runoff with C. Edward Mack. 1-1-4.

Office 95: Patricia Nieto. A win. 2-1-4.

Office 119: Jared D. Moses. A win. 3-1-4.

Office 123: Kathleen Blanchard. A win. 4-1-4.

Office 125: James Bianco. A win. 5-1-4. Things are looking up.

Office 154: Michael Jesic. Runoff with Rocky Crabb. 5-1-5.

So there it is for judicial endorsements. Our picks lost one and came out ahead in the other 10 contested races, with five victorious outright and five ending up in a Nov. 4 runoff.

In other races: We endorsed three incumbent county elected officials and, no surprise, they all won. District Attorney Steve Cooley and Supervisors Don Knabe and Michael D. Antonovich. That puts us at 8-1-5, but we can hardly take credit for those. In the Second District supervisorial race, our pick — Bernard C. Parks — came in second to Mark Ridley-Thomas but is in a runoff. We’re 8-1-6.

We said no on Proposition 98 and yes on Proposition 99. So did voters. 10-1-6.

We endorsed in five partisan legislative primaries, and each of our candidates won their nomination: Republican for Senate Bob Huff, Democrat for Senate Fran Pavley, and Democrats for Assembly Bob Blumenfield, John A. Perez, and Isadore Hall. Our final, tally: 15 wins, 1 loss, and 6 runoffs.

And this all means — what? That the Los Angeles Times is the heaviest hitter in town, and that our endorsement is what makes the difference in elections; or that the Times editorial page is a follower rather than a leader, and endorses only the establishment candidates who already have the inside track; or that these races were really no contest, with one candidate the obvious choice in each of them; or nothing at all. Take your pick. And get ready for November.

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