Maggy Krell

Maggy Krell
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 6th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 2, 2024
Preceded byKevin McCarty
Personal details
Born1978 (age 45–46)
Political partyDemocratic

Maggy Krell (born 1978) is an American lawyer and politician who is currently serving in the California State Assembly from the 6th district. Prior to being elected, she had served as a Deputy Attorney General of California and was part of Kamala Harris's team after Harris was elected Attorney General. While working with Harris, Krell led the investigation into Backpage, aiming to prove the site's involvement in pimping, although the charges were dropped twice. She left Harris's team in 2018 to join a California affiliate of Planned Parenthood. Her first political campaign was in 2014, when she ran for Sacramento County District Attorney but lost to Anne Marie Schubert. In 2024, she initially announced her candidacy for Mayor of Sacramento but later pivoted to run for the California State Assembly, where she faced Republican trade specialist Nikki Ellis.

Early career

In 2005, she was appointed as a Deputy Attorney General of California and was promoted to a small team for newly-elected Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2012.[1] In 2014, Krell ran for Sacramento District Attorney, losing to Anne Marie Schubert.[2][3]

In October 2016, Harris and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton charged Backpage for pimping and conspiracy to commit pimping, with Krell and her team demonstrating that the website was used to promote prostitution by posting two false ads.[4] However, the case was quickly dismissed by a judge under the Communications Decency Act.[5] A few weeks later, the team brought charges against the executives once more, but the case was dismissed again.[1][6] In March 2018, she left her role as a prosecutor to join Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, citing the Trump administration's attacks on the organization as her motivation for the change her career.[7]

California State Assembly

In 2023, she announced that she would be running for 2024 Sacramento mayoral election, but in June 2023, she announced that she was dropping out of the mayoral race to run for California State Assembly.[8][9] During the election, she and former ACLU executive director Carlos Marquez raised the most money from a business and corrections committees.[10] In the primary, Krell and Republican trade specialist Nikki Ellis advanced to the general election.[11]

Electoral history

Electoral history of Nick Schultz
Year Office Party Primary General Result Swing Ref.
Total % P. Total % P.
2014 Sacramento County District Attorney Nonpartisan 59,231 28.99% 2nd Runoff cancelled Lost N/A [12]
2024 California State Assembly Democratic 25,875 25.04% 1st 133,581 66.9% 1st Won Hold [13]

References

  1. ^ a b Cutler, Jacqueline (January 6, 2022). "Breaking Backpage: A prosecutor's quest to fight sex trafficking in America". New York Daily News.
  2. ^ Furillo, Andy (May 12, 2014). "Election 2014: Maggy Krell looks to shake up Sacramento County DA's Office". The Sacramento Bee.
  3. ^ Holden, Lindsey (December 16, 2023). "Sacramento is getting its first competitive Assembly race in a decade". The Sacramento Bee.
  4. ^ Smith, Darrell (October 18, 2017). "What you need to know to catch up with the Backpage.com case". The Sacramento Bee.
  5. ^ Brown, Elizabeth Nolan (October 10, 2016). "Backpage Leaders Beat Pimping Charges as Court Affirms Importance of Immunity for Web Publishers of Third-Party Speech". Reason.
  6. ^ Brown, Elizabeth Nolan (August 31, 2017). "Backpage Executives Escape Pimping Charges Kamala Harris Brought (Twice) Against Them". Reason.
  7. ^ Magagnini, Steve (March 9, 2018). "Planned Parenthood California brings on a 'tenacious fighter' to take on Trump". The Sacramento Bee.
  8. ^ Fabian, Jose (June 28, 2023). "Sacramento mayoral candidate now running for state Assembly seat". KTXL.
  9. ^ Zavala, Ashley (July 4, 2023). "Maggy Krell explains why she now wants to run for State Assembly: 'I was made for this seat'". KCRA-TV.
  10. ^ Holden, Lindsey (February 15, 2024). "California interest groups pump millions into Sacramento Assembly race. Who's funding ads?". The Sacramento Bee.
  11. ^ Nixon, Nicole (March 6, 2024). "Assembly District 6 results: Democrat Maggy Krell poised to face Republican opponent in November". Capradio.
  12. ^ "Official 2014 Primary Election". Sacramento County. June 3, 2014.
  13. ^ "Tuesday March 5, 2024 - California Presidential Primary Election - Unofficial Election Results".