Arlo Smith

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Arlo Eugene Smith (born October 9, 1927) [1] [2] served as the District Attorney of San Francisco, California from 1980 to 1996. He was the Democratic candidate for attorney general of California in 1990, but lost to Dan Lungren. [3]

Smith was born in Minnesota and grew up in San Bernardino, California. [2] He received his bachelor's degree and law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. [2] Following a 26-year career as a state prosecutor, he was elected San Francisco's district attorney in 1979; he defeated four major opponents in that election, including incumbent Joseph Freitas, whose reputation was damaged by his office's failure to secure murder convictions for Dan White for the Moscone–Milk assassinations. [4]

Smith won three more terms in 1983, 1987, and 1991 without opposition, but in 1995, he was defeated for re-election, finishing third amid challenges from Terence Hallinan and Bill Fazio, the latter of whom was a prosecutor in Smith's office, and whom Smith fired after learning of his intention to run against him. [5] Fazio ran a tough on crime campaign, while Hallinan took more liberal positions. [5] Though Hallinan tied Fazio to Smith as an attack, Smith endorsed the ultimately victorious Hallinan in the subsequent runoff. [5] [6]

References

  1. ↑ "ARLO SMITH". SFGate . September 10, 1995. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Opatrny, Dennis J. (November 2, 1995). "Smith might miss DA runoff" . The San Francisco Examiner . p. A7. Retrieved April 22, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Arlo Smith's profile on OurCampaigns.com".
  4. ↑ Hatfield, Larry D.; Dolan, Maura (September 26, 1979). "Who will be the next Mr. (or Ms.) District Attorney?" . The San Francisco Examiner . p. B1. Retrieved April 22, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 Opatrny, Dennis J. (November 7, 1995). "Polar foes Hallinan, Fazio oust DA Smith" . The San Francisco Examiner . p. A1, A16. Retrieved April 22, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Lewis, Gregory (November 16, 1995). "Arlo Smith endorses Hallinan for DA" . The San Francisco Examiner . p. A11. Retrieved April 22, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Joseph Freitas
 District Attorney of San Francisco
1980–1996		Succeeded by
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