San Benito County Bar Association President Paul Breen announced
this week he will not run for district attorney in 2006, despite
having received several requests to run for the office.
Hollister – San Benito County Bar Association President Paul Breen announced this week he will not run for district attorney in 2006, despite having received several requests to run for the office.
Breen, a civil attorney, plans to focus on his family and several upcoming lawsuits instead of gearing up for an election, he said.
“The timing is not right for me to be involved in a political campaign,” he said.
Breen’s choice not to try his hand at political office this year leaves defense attorney Arthur Cantu officially vying for the position, and District Attorney John Sarsfield has not decided if he’ll run for reelection.
Breen’s decision came after several months of indecisiveness, although he said people encouraged him to throw his hat in the ring.
Breen didn’t rule out a run for district attorney in 2010, but said right now he is concentrating on his two children, 3-year-old Thomas and 8-month-old James.
“I’m certainly not a politician and I’m not embarking on a career path as a politician, ” he said.
Breen said he would not endorse a candidate for district attorney because it would be inappropriate to do so as president of the local bar association. However, Breen said he was not pleased with Sarsfield’s performance in office.
“While I have strong personal disagreements with the manner in which the District Attorney’s Office has performed over the past three years, ultimately it will be up to the voters to determine whether that performance warrants a change,” Breen said in a written statement.
Sarsfield said Breen was entitled to his opinion, although considered it “uninformed.”
“As long as I am DA, this office is going to come down hard on gang members, child molesters and environmental offenders, and if Mr. Breen disagrees with those values, so be it,” he said.
Cantu, who announced his candidacy several months ago, was pleased he would not have to face Breen on the campaign trail.
“I’m somewhat happy because Paul Breen would have been a formidable opponent,” he said. “I can wipe the sweat off my brow.”
