A longtime attorney and Yolo County resident announced last week her intent to challenge District Attorney Jeff Reisig in the 2022 election. Cynthia Rodriguez says she is running for the chief prosecutor’s office, which Reisig has held since 2007, because “Yolo County residents deserve a district attorney that prioritizes public safety and justice for all residents.” “We deserve a district attorney who is looking out for all of us, and unfortunately we have not had that kind of leadership,” says a news release from Rodriguez’s campaign. “Cynthia is running to change that.” Rodriguez’s website, www.cynthia4yolocountyda.com, outlines a platform addressing issues such as mental health and criminal justice, cash bail, fiscal transparency, conviction integrity, youth justice, labor, immigration and homelessness. An attorney since 1982, Rodriguez served as general counsel and deputy director of forensic services at the California Department of Mental Health for eight years, managing an office of 200 employees. Rodriguez says she is “no stranger to legal administration or the failings of our prosecutorial system,” citing her prior experience as a public defender in Solano and Orange counties and for the state. With CDMH, she prosecuted misconduct matters involving prison guards and other correctional staff. She lives on a walnut farm just outside of Winters with her husband, retired pediatrician Roy Marubayashi, with whom she raised four children. Rodriguez plans to officially launch her campaign and hear residents’ concerns at a virtual “meet and greet” via Zoom at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 15 (meeting ID: 875-6839-4932, passcode 983622). The election will be on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, with a candidate filing window of Feb. 14 to March 11, 2022. This marks the second time Reisig faces an election challenger. In 2018, longtime public defender Dean Johansson earned nearly 48 percent of the countywide vote on a campaign tackling racial inequity in the courts, overprosecution and high incarceration rates in Yolo County. He has endorsed Rodriguez’s candidacy. Reisig, meanwhile, has previously touted his track record of prioritizing violent crimes, hate crimes and environmental prosecutions while diverting lower-level cases to restorative justice programs and specialty courts that address underlying addiction and mental-health issues.
