- sf.gov (opens in a new tab)SF Department of Elections — Candidates, November 3, 2026 General Election
- kqed.org (opens in a new tab)KQED — San Francisco public defender caseload dispute coverage
- sfpublicdefender.org (opens in a new tab)San Francisco Public Defender — office biography and statements
- campaign.sfethics.org (opens in a new tab)SF Ethics Commission — campaign-finance dashboard and public-financing dataset
Last updated September 21, 2026.
County
San Francisco Public Defender
This person leads San Francisco's Public Defender office. That office provides free legal defense. It represents San Franciscans charged with crimes who cannot afford a lawyer.
Only one candidate qualified for this seat. Incumbent Manohar "Mano" Raju is the only candidate on the November 3 ballot. He runs unopposed, so the race is already decided. San Francisco elects this office directly, and there was no June primary for it.
The Public Defender leads the office that represents San Franciscans charged with crimes who cannot afford a lawyer. The office describes the post as California's only elected public defender seat, which makes this ballot line the public's direct check on how indigent defense is run here. The seat carries a four-year term.
With no opponent, the useful question is what to expect and what to watch. The office enters the term in an open dispute with the Superior Court over caseloads: a judge held Raju in contempt in March 2026 for refusing new cases, and his office says the real problem is understaffing. How that dispute resolves will shape the office's next four years more than this settled ballot line will.
Manohar Raju
Manohar Raju is the sitting Public Defender, running unopposed for reelection. He spent seven years as a deputy public defender in Contra Costa County. Then he joined San Francisco's office, where predecessor Jeff Adachi recruited him. He rose from line attorney to felony unit manager. He was reelected to a four-year term in November 2022. Since May 2025, his office has been unavailable for new cases one day a week. It cites heavy workloads. In early 2026, it turned away dozens of new cases. Raju told KQED that taking every case would make effective legal defense impossible.
Financial info
- Small donors
- Individuals
Manohar Raju
$20,011 raised
- Small donors$4102%
- Individuals$19,60198%
1Public matching funds are city money earned through small-donor support; totals combine reported contributions with approved public funds. Figures are CA Form 460 filings through 2026-06-30, per the SF Ethics Commission's e-filed transaction exports and campaign-finance dashboard, retrieved 2026-09-21.
Your pick
A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.