Holiday card photo raises questions in Fresno County judicial race

A holiday card showing Steven Ueltzen and family members flipping the bird has turned a Fresno County Superior Court race into a sharper question about temperament, restraint and whether voters should trust him with a seat on the bench.

Ueltzen, a senior deputy district attorney, is running for an open judgeship against public defender Deidre Adams and Fresno City Attorney’s Office chief assistant attorney and chief prosecutor Ashley Paulson. The photo, sent in 2024 and now circulating in the campaign, gave his opponents an opening to argue that a judicial candidate should not be playing to a joke that can read as disrespectful when the office at stake requires public confidence and courtroom discipline.

Paulson said the post is too important to be left to candidates who do not meet the standards expected of judges. Adams said the role calls for professionalism, restraint and respect for the public. Ueltzen acknowledged the card was real and said it was one version of the holiday card he gives out each year, describing the image as a moment of levity among friends in a job that deals daily with serious issues at the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.

The dispute landed in the middle of an unusually crowded judicial election cycle. Seven Fresno County Superior Court seats are open in the June 2 election, a number court watchers have described as unusually high for one ballot. Seven incumbents chose not to seek reelection, creating a wave of open seats that has made this year’s races especially hard to ignore. In a three-candidate contest, a candidate needs a majority to win outright; if no one gets it, the top two advance to a Nov. 3 runoff.

The race also sits inside a system built around nonpartisan judicial elections, which means Fresno County voters do not see party labels next to the candidates’ names. California’s Code of Judicial Ethics says a judge or judicial candidate shall not engage in political or campaign activity inconsistent with the independence, integrity or impartiality of the judiciary. The California Supreme Court also requires most candidates for judicial office to complete an online judicial campaign ethics course. The Commission on Judicial Performance, which investigates judicial misconduct, says its work is tied to protecting public confidence in the independence and integrity of the courts.

Ueltzen’s campaign says he is a Central Valley native, a senior deputy district attorney who leads the DUI Vertical Prosecution Unit, a State Bar Certified Criminal Law Specialist, a longtime board member of the Fresno County Prosecutors’ Association and a high school mock trial coach for 14 years. Paulson says she spent a decade at the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office before moving to the city attorney’s office, while Adams serves on the Fresno County Major Crimes team in the public defender’s office. In a race where many voters know little beyond names and résumés, a single holiday card has become a lens on the standards Fresno County will demand from the next judge.