San Francisco Superior Court Judge — Seat 16
✦ AI Race Summary
The only contested judicial race on SF's June ballot. Seat 16 is being vacated by Judge Geraldo Sandoval, who chose retirement over re-election. Anthony Tartaglio briefly entered to challenge incumbent Judge Michelle Tong (Seat 11) but withdrew in early February 2026, leaving Tong unopposed and consolidating the field for Seat 16 between two career attorneys with sharply different professional backgrounds: a longtime SF prosecutor and a longtime SF public defender. The race is widely framed as a referendum on SF's post-Boudin-recall public safety politics on the bench.
Candidates · sorted by endorsements
15-year prosecutor in the SF DA's Office; has tried 34 jury cases to verdict across misdemeanors through homicide, including domestic violence, elder abuse, financial crimes, and Mental Health Diversion. Led prosecution of David DePape (the 2022 attack on Paul Pelosi) to conviction and a life sentence. Worked her way through law school as a server and bartender before becoming a prosecutor. Has committed publicly to publishing measurable judicial performance metrics — juror surveys, case-efficiency data, appellate affirmance rates. Endorsed by the SF Chronicle.
BAJC-Action · Endorsed
Hindu United Vote · Endorsed
United Democratic Club · Endorsed
Career public defender (CA Bar #263129). Spent ten years in the trial rotation handling everything from trespass to murder, with 50+ jury trials including three homicides (all acquittals). Spent a year in collaborative courts working on Drug and Community Service Court alongside prosecutors and treatment teams. Brief early-career stint training poll workers in election law at the SF Department of Elections.