Voters will encounter something unusual while filling out their May ballot for one seat on the Oregon Court of Appeals this year: a choice.

Judge Darleen Ortega, who has served on the appellate court since 2003, is facing a challenge from Vance Day, a former Oregon Republican Party chairman whom the Oregon Supreme Court suspended from his role as a Marion County judge in 2018 for making false statements.

Day says the real reason behind his suspension was his religious opposition to gay marriage, which became apparent when he refused to marry same-sex couples.

The statewide race for a six-year term is the first real electoral test for Ortega, who at 59 is the first woman of color and the only Latina to serve on Oregon’s second-highest court.

The incumbent says that while nonpartisan judges are elected to determine the facts, not represent constituencies, the absence of people of color from positions of power can omit important perspectives, such as when the 13 Court of Appeals judges confer as a group.

“As a result, I think the process is missing key information, resulting in biased outcomes,” Ortega said in a written reply to questions. “My experiences as a Latina from a challenging background, along with my compassion, help me to be curious about things that others miss, and regularly help me to deepen the conversations we have at the court as we apply the law.”

For his part, Day, 61, says he will bring ideological diversity to the appellate court. Describing himself as a strict constructionist who interprets the Constitution as it was originally intended, Day claims that Ortega and other judges have embraced an “equity doctrine” that picks winners and losers.

“You can’t have a justice system which views those in the system differently depending upon their color, their experience or whether they’re an oppressor or an oppressed person,” he said. “Our laws should be applied to all people in all places at all times equally.”

Single-candidate races featuring only the incumbent judge are the norm in the Oregon judiciary, as most judges choose to retire midterm, allowing the governor to handpick their successors, who can then run as an incumbent during the next election. While the court itself does not track contested races, they are exceedingly rare, although defense attorney Kyle Krohn made them less so in recent years.

Krohn lost to incumbent Judge Rex Armstrong in 2018. Incumbent Judge Joel DeVore also defeated Krohn in the May 2020 primary. In both cases, the incumbents won handily.

Adrian Brown, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in Oregon, triumphed over attorney Rima Ghandour in another hotly-contested judgeship in Multnomah County Circuit Court in 2020.

This year’s face-off has also led to an unusual degree of fundraising. Campaign finance records show Ortega has taken in $81,000. Day has collected $59,000.

Ortega had never reported raising any money for any of her three appeals court campaigns. Day had never raised more than $1,150 for any of his judicial campaigns, state records indicate.

Day, whose family has lived in Oregon for generations, has a history of generating controversial headlines.

The Oregon Supreme Court’s decision to suspend him followed a recommendation from the state’s Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability. The ruling was spurred by controversies regarding Day’s refusal to marry same-sex couples and a portrait of Adolf Hitler that was part of a large art display in the Veterans Treatment Court over which Day presided.

Felony gun charges and misdemeanor misconduct charges, which centered on allegations that Day had let a felon handle a gun, were dismissed at the last minute in 2018 after a key witness refused to testify.

Day says Oregon’s gun laws were “weaponized” against him for his views on gay marriage.

“My actions infuriated those, frankly, who had anointed themselves as the arbiters of right or wrong,” he said. “The justice system must not become a political punishment and reward system.”

Ortega has occupied a spot near the limelight for years as an appeals court judge who also wrote film criticism for two Portland newspapers. She’s also a law instructor who has pushed to let Oregon students attain their law license via practical experience as an alternative to the bar exam.

After nearly two decades on the bench, Ortega says she remains one of the most productive and engaged judges on the court and is dedicated to breaking down the barriers people from marginalized populations face in the legal system.

“We first have to recognize the barriers to true equity, which means active looking and listening, followed by acknowledgment and real systemic change,” she said. “No one has done more to increase diversity of thought and perspective in the judiciary than I have.”