Todd Spitzer

Todd Spitzer (born November 26, 1960) is an American attorney and politician serving as the district attorney of Orange County, California.

Todd Spitzer was born on November 26, 1960, in Whittier, California, to Phyllis Ann and Leonard Spitzer.

He has a sister, Susan, who also went on to be an attorney.

Todd played leading roles in the Schurr High School department of performance arts' productions of the musicals Hello, Dolly! (1975) and Li'l Abner (1976).

Spitzer attended the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1982.

He then completed a fellowship at the California State Senate.

In 1984–85, Spitzer worked as an English teacher at Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

He graduated in 1989 with a master's degree in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

While at Hastings, Spitzer was awarded the George Moscone Fellowship, given to law students dedicating their careers to public service.

Spitzer had previously served as a deputy district attorney from 1990 to 1996 and, under Rackauckas, as assistant district attorney from 2008 to 2010.

Spitzer joined the Orange County District Attorney's office in 1990 as deputy district attorney.

He has prosecuted felonies including attempted murder, attempted rape, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, and reckless driving causing serious bodily injury.

Spitzer has tried about 100 jury trials to verdict.

From 1990 to 2000, Spitzer also served as a volunteer reserve police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department.

Spitzer's first elected office was as a trustee to the Brea Olinda School Board in 1992.

He served in the position until 1996.

Serving in the position until 1996, he investigated a grading scandal at Brea Olinda High School involving a former registrar changing students' grades to enhance their chances of getting into college.

In 1996, Spitzer ran against Assemblyman Mickey Conroy in a heated election for the 3rd supervisorial district seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Described by Los Angeles Times as "a decided underdog", Spitzer came in second in the March 1996 primary among seven candidates, leading to a general election between him and Conroy.

Spitzer was previously an Orange County supervisor from 1997 to 2002 and again from 2012 to 2018.

Spitzer won the general election and was sworn-in in January 1997.

While serving on the board, he successfully opposed the conversion of the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro into an international airport and instead advocated for a "Millennium Plan" for a mixed-use commercial and residential development for the 4,700 acre property.

Spitzer also advocated for the immediate release of a map of registered sex offenders living in Orange County.

He was also a member of the California State Assembly from 2002 to 2006, serving three terms representing California's 71st assembly district.

As an assemblyman, he co-wrote California's Megan's Law.

In 2002, Spitzer ran for a seat in the California State Assembly to represent the 71st assembly district.

He was challenged by the Democratic candidate Bea Foster, a teacher from Santa Ana.

After defeating Foster in the election, Spitzer was sworn into the State Assembly on December 2, 2002.

As an assemblyman, Spitzer served on the judiciary and public safety committees and was a proponent for stronger legislation against sex offenders.

In April 2004, he co-wrote Megan's Law for tougher penalties for people convicted of sex offenses and co-wrote legislation to publish the registered sex offenders database on the Internet.

Spitzer was re-elected to the State Assembly in November 2004, defeating Bea Foster again with a vote margin of 69.1% to 30.9%.

A June 2004 Los Angeles Times article described a "long-simmering feud between Orange County [District Attorney] Tony Rackauckas and [...] Spitzer."

In October 2004, Spitzer accused Rackauckas of "[poisoning] trust in local law enforcement".

In 2006, Spitzer served as co-chair of the High Risk Sex Offender Task Force, formed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to review the law vcs governing the monitoring of high risk sex offenders living in California.

He also advocated for the passage of Proposition 83, a law against sexual predators based on Jessica's Law.

He also served as spokesman and campaign manager for the successful campaign to pass Marsy's Law in a 2008 initiative.

He also helped write Marsy's Law, an amendment to the state's constitution to expand the legal rights of victims of crime which was passed in 2008.

He served as spokesperson and campaign manager for the initiative to pass the amendment.

Spitzer later served as legal affairs director of Marsy's Law for All, an organization representing victims of crime.

Spitzer successfully ran for Orange County district attorney in 2018 against incumbent Tony Rackauckas.