Tara M. DesautelsIncumbent

Candidate for Court of Appeal Justice, California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division 2, Seat 4

Tara M. Desautels is an Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Two. She earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University. She earned a J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law, now called UC Law San Francisco. She began her career as a deputy district attorney. She worked in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office from 1997 to 2005. She then joined a San Francisco law firm, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, as a civil litigator. She handled state and federal court cases. She also handled corporate investigations and white-collar defense. And she worked on antitrust and unfair-competition cases. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger named her to the Alameda County Superior Court in 2010. She served there for 14 years. She heard family, criminal, juvenile, and civil cases. She also held court leadership posts. Her fellow judges elected her assistant presiding judge, then presiding judge. The Alameda County Bar Association gave her its Distinguished Service Award for a judge in 2018. Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her to the Court of Appeal in March 2024. The Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed her in May 2024. Appellate judges must be confirmed by voters at the next governor's race. So she is on the November 3, 2026 ballot. It is a nonpartisan yes-or-no retention vote. First District voters will decide if she stays in office. There is no opposing candidate.

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