Suzy Loftus receives early, big-name endorsements for SF district attorney race

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - The election for a new San Francisco district attorney is in November 2019, but there are two early big name endorsements for one candidate: Suzy Loftus. 

She's received the support of Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris. Loftus sat down with KTVU'S Amber Lee for a one on one interview. 

The San Francisco native volunteers at the Ella Hill Hutch Community Center in city’s Western Addition.

She says her partnership with the nonprofit which serves underprivileged families started more than ten years ago when she worked as an Assistant San Francisco District Attorney. 

Now, she wants to serve as the city's top elected law enforcement officer:  District Attorney. 

"When I look at the city I love, I think there's a lot of things we can do better.  We can partner with community. We can build a safer city," says Loftus. 

In September, Loftus filed paperwork to run for public office---her first time. 

We asked how she was going to mend the fractured relationship the district attorney's office has had with the police department.

"Often times, people forget what we have in common.  When it comes to community, when it comes to policing,  when it comes to being a prosecutor, we need to remember we all want the same thing," says Loftus. "We have to reject the idea that we're either soft on crime or hard on crime. tough on crime.  my whole career. I was sworn in as a prosecutor under Kamala Harris.  She told us we had to be smart on crime. It's how you handle each particular case."

In 2012, then-Mayor Ed Lee appointed Loftus to the police commission.  She was eventually  elected commission president. 

She says her previous experience as special assistant  attorney general and running a nonprofit in the Bayview Hunters Point helping children overcome the trauma of violence will help her tackle issues with a multi-faceted approach.  

She is currently legal counsel for the San Francisco Sheriff's Department.  

"I will look at being district attorney from the perspective of someone in the community, someone who was formerly incarcerated, someone who was a victim, someone who's a police officer , a prosecutor. All of them are actors," says Loftus.

She is the mother of three girls.  She says she was raised by a single mother and inspired by her strength and that of other strong women such as U.S Senator Dianne Feinstein who was Mayor of San Francisco when Loftus was a girl.  

If elected, she would become the second woman after Kamala Harris to be district attorney of the city she loves. 

"I stand for something that's pretty radical. Don't be on the side of the police or the community.  You got to be on the side of everybody in order to deliver a city that's more safe. We got to work with everybody," says Loftus.

In the new year, she plans to head into various neighborhoods across the city to find out what San Franciscans want in their district attorney.