Twenty San Francisco Superior Court judges face reelection in June 2026, yet only one seat is expected to appear on the June ballot. Challenges to incumbents remain exceedingly rare, as unseating a sitting judge is notoriously difficult, while the position’s demands of long hours, diminished privacy, campaign rigors, and a significant pay reduction deter most qualified candidates from running.
Considering feedback from political coalitions, the legal community, and competing resources, Anthony Tartaglio withdrew his judicial challenge of Judge Michelle Tong after incumbent Judge Gerardo Sandoval sought retirement, rather than reelection, and two new challengers entered the race. Assistant District Attorney Phoebe Maffei will compete against Deputy Public Defender Alexandra Pray for Sandoval’s now-open seat. Pray spent her career as a deputy public defender and most recently staffing Drug and Community Service Court. Our recent drug court coverage shows diversion led to increases in recidivism. Maffei spent her career as an assistant district attorney, securing convictions for high-profile cases such as the machete attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband and protesting the probation sentence in the stabbing of 94-year-old Anh ‘Peng’ Taylor.
When we first spoke to Tartaglio, 39, he said after his filing on Feb. 3, “It wasn’t an easy decision,” he said. “I’ve been thinking for a long time how I can best serve my community, to make my city better, safer, and where everyone’s rights are respected.”
Judge Sandoval declared his retirement on Feb. 9, and Maffei and Pray filed to contest his open seat. By Feb. 10, Tartaglio had withdrawn his candidacy and released this statement to the press:
“Since filing, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with judges, attorneys, and many members of the legal community and am truly grateful for their support,” Tony said. “At the same time, I’ve heard concerns about challenging incumbent judges. After careful consideration, I’ve decided to respectfully step back and explore other ways to serve the community. I remain committed to justice and public service, and I look forward to promoting the rule of law in other ways.”
Tartaglio’s discussion with the legal community led him to withdraw, as support and resources would appear divided between a candidate with a higher probability of winning an open seat and the difficulty he would face in unseating an incumbent. Frank Noto of Stop Crime Action countered that Judge Tong’s case was an exception, since her unfavorable track record was particularly egregious and more widely known.
What led Tartaglio to file in the first place? Tartaglio said he was particularly struck by Judge Michelle Tong’s family court rulings, including the international case involving the abduction of 2-year-old Maximilien Garreau. Judge Tong permitted the child to be taken on a two-week trip to Kazakhstan in 2024 by his mother, Sana Onayeva, who had a prior restraining order against her and a documented history of abuse. Maximilien’s father, Guillaume Garreau, presented evidence that Onayeva had transferred over $200,000 in cash to her brother and warned the court that Kazakhstan does not recognize the Hague Convention on returning children in international abductions. According to Stop Crime Action, Judge Tong “breezily assured” Garreau that, based on her own research, she was confident the child would be returned. In court, Judge Tong casually dismissed Garreau’s concerns about how difficult an international legal battle would be for him if his child were abducted, given the distance and his inability to speak Kazakh. Judge Tong retorted that Kazakhstan “has borders and internet” and was therefore a “normal country.”
Maximilien has been missing for nearly two years since Judge Tong’s fateful decision.
