First Judicial District Democrats endorsed all but one of Gov. Bill Richardson's four appointees for judgeships in Tuesday's primary, according to unofficial results.

The one exception was in Division 7, where T. Glenn Ellington appeared to be beating gubernatorial appointee David Thomson.

Ellington was leading in Santa Fe County with 53 percent of the votes with 72 of 87 precincts reporting. In Rio Arriba County, where Ellington grew up, his lead was closer to 66 percent. Ellington was barely losing in Los Alamos County.

In the other judicial races, Richardson's appointments to the bench in the three-county district easily won — Sarah Singleton over Peter Culvert for Division 2; Sheri Raphaelson over Yvonne Quintana in Division 5; and Mary Marlowe over Margaret Kegel and Gary Elion in Division 8.

Because no Republican seeks any local judicial position, the winners of the Democratic primary will get a free walk to the $111,631-a-year positions in the Nov. 2 general election.

According to unofficial tallies late Tuesday, Singleton held the widest margin of victory among the district judge candidates with more than 80 percent of the vote in Santa Fe, 72 percent in Rio Arriba and 85 percent in Los Alamos.

Singleton, 61, who moved to Santa Fe to work for the Public Defender's Office in 1974 and has been a partner with the Montgomery & Andrews firm most recently, has drawn more contributions than another other judge candidate with more than $72,000 so far.

Next among the top judicial vote getters is Marlowe, with 62 percent in Santa Fe, 46 percent in Rio Arriba and 53 percent in Los Alamos. Kegel took 40 percent of the vote in Rio Arriba, where she used to live and practice law.

Marlowe, 52, who recently divorced trial lawyer Dan Marlowe and married construction attorney Eric Sommer, was a domestic hearing officer for the 1st Judicial District before she was appointed to the bench. She has easily outdistanced her opponents in fundraising with more than $36,000 in contributions.

Raphaelson, who usually holds court in Tierra Amarilla, had 56 percent of the votes in Santa Fe, 68 percent in Rio Arriba and 72 percent in Los Alamos.

Raphaelson, 45, moved to New Mexico 17 years ago and began practicing law in Española in 1996. Her campaign raised $6,960 to Quintana's $4,808.

Ellington's victory returns him to the judicial position to which he was appointed by Republican Gov. Gary Johnson in 1998. Democrat Daniel Sanchez defeated Ellington that year in the general election, so Johnson appointed Ellington to the state Court of Appeals. But in 2000, Ellington was defeated by another Democrat, Ira Robinson, for the seat on the appellate court, and Johnson appointed Ellington as secretary of the state Taxation and Revenue Department.

Ellington, 49, who has practiced law with his wife in Santa Fe since 2003, switched his voter registration from Republican to Democrat last year, saying the GOP had become too polarized.

Ellington's campaign raised $26,673 to Thomson's $63,025 — making Ellington the only judge candidate to win despite raising less money than his opponent.

Gov. Richardson appointed Thomson, a Santa Fe native who previously worked in the Attorney General's Office, to fill the position vacated by the retirement of Sanchez this year.

Contact Tom Sharpe at 986-3080 or tsharpe@sfnewmexican.com.