August 15, 2005

Judge Joins Race for Santa Clara District Attorney

By Craig Anderson
Daily Journal

SAN JOSE - Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Dolores Carr has taken a leave of absence from the bench and will announce today she is running for district attorney.
"I'm in," Carr said Friday.

Carr, who spent 15 years as a deputy district attorney before she was elected as a Santa Clara County judge in 2000, poses a challenge for the two already-declared candidates: Chief Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu and Assistant District Attorney Marc Buller.

"I think Dolores is going to be a very strong candidate," said Darren Seaton, a Northern California political consultant who was running Superior Court Judge Ron Del Pozzo's campaign until he dropped out last week.

Seaton said Carr's status as the only Republican in the race, her solid reputation as a judge and good relationships with law enforcement would make her a formidable candidate. Carr is married to a San Jose police lieutenant.

It had become increasingly clear in recent weeks that Carr was planning to run. She hired a political consultant and her husband registered several domain names, such as carr4da.com, on Aug. 1. Del Pozzo's surprising withdrawal from the race further fueled speculation.

Carr declined to comment on her candidacy until officially announcing it today around noon in front of the old county courthouse on North First Street.

Political observers say Carr's decision to enter the race hurts Sinunu, who had been the only female candidate.

Carr's opponents said they had been expecting her to enter the race.

"I thought she wanted to be a judge, but she's been out there, so we'll give it a run," Sinunu said."

Buller, contacted while on vacation, said: "it doesn't matter to me who's in the race and who's not."

If she runs, Carr loses her chance to seek re-election to her judgeship; the rules bar her from running for re-election as a judge while also running for district attorney.

A 1980 graduate of Southwestern University School of Law, Carr worked in private practice for four years before joining the Santa Clara County district attorney's office in 1985. She supervised the sexual assault team at one point and was known for being tough on sex offenders.

In some cases, Carr asked judges to impose 25-years-to-life sentences on sex offenders who moved and failed to register with local police departments. Her efforts drew criticism from many defense attorneys and resistance from judges as being disproportionate to the crimes, but she was successful on several occasions.

Since she became a judge, Carr has spent several years in family court. In January she drew a new assignment known as Unified Family Court. The idea is to pull families with a variety of legal issues related to divorce, domestic violence and juvenile dependency and have them handled by a single department.

Carr did not have as much administrative experience as her opponents within the district attorney's office, and may face questions about her close ties to law enforcement. The registration address of Carr's campaign Web sites is the same as the San Jose Police Officers Association.

District Attorney George Kennedy, who has endorsed Sinunu as his successor, nonetheless has kind words for Carr. "She was a good DA and is a very good judge," he said.

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