Manohar Raju
Candidate for Public Defender, San Francisco
Manohar 'Mano' Raju is the son of immigrants who came to the United States from a farming village in India. He earned his undergraduate degree at Columbia University and holds a master's degree in South Asian Studies and a law degree from UC Berkeley. He spent seven years as a deputy public defender in Contra Costa County before he was recruited to San Francisco's Public Defender's Office by his predecessor, Jeff Adachi, where he worked as a line attorney, Director of Training, and Felony Unit Manager. He was appointed Public Defender by Mayor London Breed in 2019 after Adachi's death, and has since been elected to the office. He is the only elected public defender in California and leads an office of more than 100 attorneys and 60 staff members with a roughly $24 million budget serving about 23,000 clients a year. He has lectured nationally on race-conscious representation and trial advocacy and serves on the board of the National Association of Public Defense.
Positions in brief
Raju has pushed to grow his office's budget, which he says lags far behind the District Attorney's and police funding, and backs state legislation protecting immigrants and expanding oversight of police misconduct.
Raju argues his office is underfunded compared with the District Attorney's office and police and sheriff's departments, and says that gap contributes to systemic inequity. In 2026 that funding fight became a legal crisis: a judge held him in contempt and fined him $26,000 after his office said it could not take on more indigent defense cases without more staff, since its 47 felony attorneys were each carrying roughly 61 cases. Raju called the ruling disappointing and said he expected a higher court to pause it while he appealed; the California Court of Appeal later stayed the sanction. His office also runs an Integrity Unit focused on police misconduct, and Raju has said the office should spend more time advocating for policy change, including support for AB 937 (the VISION Act), which limits when local agencies can hand immigrants over to federal immigration authorities after their criminal cases end. He has also expanded programs such as a pilot that pays jurors $100 a day to make jury service more accessible, and reentry services that connect clients with social workers.
On the issues
- Taxes & Cost of Living
Says his office is underfunded and understaffed relative to the District Attorney's office and police/sheriff departments, and has pushed for a bigger budget.
“It was a disappointing ruling. We're anticipating a higher court to stay his decision.”
Source → - Public Safety & Policing
Runs a unit within his office dedicated to identifying and challenging police misconduct in criminal cases.
Source → - Immigration & Border
Supports state legislation limiting when local authorities can transfer immigrants to federal immigration enforcement after their criminal cases conclude.
“spend more time advocating for border policy changes”
Source → - Criminal Justice & Courts
Has expanded programs that pay low-income jurors to make jury service accessible and that connect clients with social workers after their cases end.
Source →
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