Anne Marie Schubert quietly ended her campaign early February after Judge Ken Peterson's days-earlier-than-anticipated retirement gave Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger the chance at another judicial appointment before leaving office at the end of the year. By appointing Larry Brown of the U.S. Attorney's office, a UC Davis undergraduate and law school alum, Schwarzenegger eliminated what would have been Sacramento County's first open seat on its Superior Court bench in more than a dozen years and putting Schubert in the awkward position of running a successful campaign for a seat that would not be available again for three years.

"There are different ways to become judges, but probably 90 percent are by appointments," Schubert told the California Progress Report. "It is very rare that a seat opens which is why I made the decision to run. I love my job and I am very happy where I am," Schubert told CPR to explain why she did not plan to challenge Brown in the future.