SEATTLE (AP) — Longtime appeals lawyer Sheryl Gordon McCloud has thwarted former Washington Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders' bid to return to the high court.

McCloud defeated Sanders Tuesday night. She benefited from a large margin of victory in King County, the state's most populous.

Sanders drew criticism in 2010 for saying that certain minority groups are overrepresented in the prison population "because they have a crime problem" rather than because of some institutional bias.

Sanders argues the comment was misunderstood, but McCloud says it's evidence that Sanders has a poor judicial temperament.

McCloud was endorsed by the Democratic Party, former Gov. John Spellman, former U.S. Attorney Mike McKay, and nine current and former justices.