Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert has officially kicked off her 2018 bid for re-election.
One of two lesbian district attorneys in California, Schubert is seeking a second four-year term on the June 5 primary ballot next year. In announcing the launch of her campaign last Wednesday, October 18, Schubert disclosed she had the unanimous support from the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.
"District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert continues to make our community safer," stated Supervisor Don Nottoli in a news release from Schubert's campaign. "She has the respect of law enforcement from around the state because she is an outstanding district attorney. She has created innovative programs with DNA evidence that has captured countless killers and sex offenders that otherwise would be walking the streets. Anne Marie's record as district attorney is second to none and she deserves re-election."
Schubert, 53, first won election in the summer of 2014 to succeed former DA Jan Scully, who had endorsed her, four years after dropping a bid for superior court judge in Sacramento County. She had served as a Sacramento County deputy district attorney for two decades and is the sister of Frank Schubert, who oversaw the successful campaign in 2008 to pass Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ballot measure in 2013.
In an interview with the Sacramento Bee last month, Schubert touted her office's success, both in and out of the courtroom, for why she deserved to be re-elected.
"We have a significant presence in the community to educate, prevent and intervene," she told the paper. "Some folks have earned their trip to jail, but we do a lot of things even in the courtroom to get them back on track."
According to her campaign website - http://schubertforda.com/ - gay Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen and lesbian state Senator Cathleen Galgiani (Stockton), both Democrats, are among the more than two dozen local elected officials who have already endorsed Schubert in the race.
Running against her is Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Noah Phillips, 45, who is a Democrat and assigned to the DA's homicide unit. Living in West Sacramento, in Yolo County, he and his wife are looking to move across the river into Sacramento County, where their two young sons attend school, reported the Bee.
Phillips has yet to list any endorsements on his campaign site at http://www.phillipsforda.com/ .
He told the Bee he opted to run against his boss because the DA's office could be doing more to address elder abuse, domestic violence, and gun violence against children.
"Every organization has priorities and when we're talking about preventing crime, whether it be crimes against children, domestic violence assaults, or elder abuse - those would be my priorities," Phillips told the paper. "Quite frankly, those are all areas that appear to need immediate problem-solving. Those are all emergencies from my perspective."
Schubert is one of two known out district attorneys in California. Lesbian attorney Jill Ravitch, a Democrat, is the DA in Sonoma County and will also be up for re-election next June, though she has yet to formally launch her bid for a third term.
Lesbian former San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, a Republican, resigned this summer in order to run for a county supervisor seat on the 2018 June ballot.
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