"What's the glue, what's the fabric that holds a county, a state, a country together, but the rule of law and how it's applied?"

Judicial elections don't draw the attention they deserve because they're simply less flashy, said USC's Kareem Crayton, an assistant professor of law and politics.

Unlike other elected officials, judges - who make $178,789 a year and serve six-year terms - aren't supposed to take hard stances, be beholden to a political party or certain constituents or pursue personal agendas.

Instead, Crayton said,

judicial candidates are judged on their qualifications and impartiality - more difficult qualities to measure.

"In the absence of clear information one usually gets about politics through the newspaper or through television ads you may be left with what are essentially wacky outcomes that are unexpected," he said.

In the 2006 voting results, Lynn Olson, a Hermosa Beach resident who owns Manhattan Bread & Bagel, beat Judge Dzintra Janavs, a respected incumbent, for a Los Angeles Superior Court seat.

The wife of Councilman Michael Keegan, Olson had only sporadically practiced law during the previous 10 years and was rated "not qualified" by the county Bar Association.

This election features a candidate much more controversial than Olson.

Bill Johnson, who is running against court Commissioner James Bianco, wrote a 1989 book under a pen name that argues for a constitutional amendment that would strip all nonwhites of their U.S. citizenship and deport them.

Johnson, who typically does not speak to the media, could not be reached for comment.

In the race for another judicial seat, the Los Angeles County Bar Association has rated all four candidates "not qualified."

Brent Braun, chairman of the judicial elections evaluation committee for the association, said the rating process is intensive and grueling but, in the end, subjective.

"Differences can turn on as little as one vote," Braun said of the four-tier rating system that ranges from "exceptionally well qualified" to "not qualified."

In the June 2006 judicial elections for Los Angeles Superior Court, 750,000 votes were cast in many of the races, according to county data. The county had 3.8 million registered voters at the time.

Lance Winters, a state prosecutor running for the bench in Tuesday's election, is well aware of those numbers.

"You start with that, and how do you get to those people at all? How do you get information to them? It's near impossible."

Winters, one of two candidates rated "exceptionally well-qualified," said fundraising is challenging since candidates can't promise specific favors for the community or loyalty to a political party.

"It's purely about qualifications," he said.

Candidate Patricia Nieto, who is running against Winters, said she also has felt frustrated with the election process.

"It has to do with money, slate mailers, getting your name out," said Nieto, a court commissioner rated "well-qualified."

"Whoever's going to do that more than the other person is probably going to win. To me, it's difficult to say whether I agree with it or not."

She said the lack of information might prompt voters to lean too heavily on a single source, such as the Bar Association's ratings.

She and other candidates said voters also should look at smartvoter.org - a project by the nonprofit League of Women Voters that lists candidate qualifications.

"I think there is no public awareness, except insofar as we meet people one on one or they read something about the election," said Allan Nadir, a Los Angeles gang prosecutor rated "not qualified."

"I think that's more or less because the news coverage is geared toward the presidential (election), and that's all you hear about."

Nadir said he paid $83,000 to put a statement in the county's voter pamphlet.

"I wasn't going to do it, but I said, `Hey, I gotta do it or nobody's going to know anything about me."'

brandon.lowrey@dailynews.com