Thomas DeSantosIncumbent

Candidate for Court of Appeal Justice, California Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District, Seat 10

Thomas DeSantos has served as an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Fifth Appellate District, since 2018. That court sits in Fresno. He is a native of Hanford, in Kings County. He earned a B.A. from Stanford University. He earned a J.D. from the University of Southern California School of Law. He was admitted to the California bar in 1981. He returned to Hanford to practice law. He worked first with Kahn, Soares and Conway from 1981 to 1983. He then worked with Farley, Rynda and DeSantos from 1984 to 1993. He was a sole practitioner from 1994 to 2003. He began in criminal law, then expanded into family, juvenile, and government law. Governor Gray Davis appointed him to the Kings County Superior Court. He was sworn in on October 24, 2003. He served as the court's assistant presiding judge from 2011 to 2012. He was later elected the court's presiding judge. On June 27, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown appointed him to the Fifth District Court of Appeal. The seat had opened when Justice Gene M. Gomes died. The Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed him on July 26, 2018. Voters retained him at the November 2018 election. That term covers the years through January 2027. So DeSantos is on the November 3, 2026 ballot for a new retention vote. A majority yes vote gives him a full 12-year term. The Fifth District hears appeals from superior courts across the San Joaquin Valley.

Profiles are compiled from the candidate’s own statements and public records. We never tell you how to vote.