The Porter County Bar Association has found Superior Court Judge William E. Alexa the overwhelmingly preferable candidate in his re-election race.

On Tuesday, the Bar Association released the results of its 2012 Judicial Election Survey for the only contested judicial race this season: that between the Democrat incumbent Alexa and his Republican challenger, Anthony D. Pampalone, for the Superior Court II bench.

The results of that survey:

•Of the 51 ballots cast by Bar Association members, 32 members or 64 percent found Alexa “high qualified” for the bench, while only one member—or 4 percent—found Pampalone highly qualified.

•Sixteen members or 32 percent “recommended” Alexa, while only two or 8 percent recommended Pampalone.

•Only two members or 4 percent cast “not-recommended” ballots for Alexa, while 22 members or 88 percent cast not-recommended ballots for Pampalone.

•Only one member expressed no opinion of Alexa, while 25 had no opinion of Pampalone.

“The attorneys of the Porter County Bar Association are in a unique position to evaluate the judicial candidates up for election,” Bar Association President Nick Catsadimas said. “Voting in this poll was conducted among attorneys that appear and practice in these courts every day.”

The Porter County Bar is comprised of 155 voluntary members who live or practice in Porter County. This season’s poll was conducted by electronic ballot box.

Posted 10/31/2012