 California Governor Pete Wilson appointed Gonzalez as a state judge on the San Diego Superior Court in 1991.On April 9, 1992, President George H. W. Bush nominated Gonzales to be a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, to fill the seat vacated by Judge J. Lawrence Irving.The Senate confirmed her nomination on August 11, 1992 and she received her commission on August 12, 1992.