A native Sacramentan, Thomas Hiltachk (’87) graduated from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in 1987 where he was a Law Review editor and author and a member in the Order of the Coif. Later, Hiltachk served on the Board of McGeorge’s Capital Center for Law and Policy.

He is the managing partner at Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP., where Hiltachk has practiced political and election law since 1988. He has served as legal counsel and treasurer to numerous statewide and local ballot measure committees, political action committees, lobbyists, trade associations, candidates, and officeholders.  

Hiltachk served as legal counsel for the campaign behind Proposition 184, also known as the Three Strikes Law, in 1994. He was also a legal counsel for the successful campaign to recall Gov. Gray Davis in 2003. In the 2000s, he was lead counsel for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hiltachk has previously served as general counsel to the California Republican Party.

Hiltachk has appeared before the California Supreme Court and Courts of Appeal on several occasions and has twice been named a “Top 100” lawyer in California by the Daily Journal (2017 and 2019). He served as an official U.S. election observer for the 1996 Russian Presidential election, as President of the California Political Attorneys Association (2004 – 2005) and as a Board member of the American Association of Political Consultants.   

Throughout 2024, the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law will celebrate members of its vast alumni network in honor of the school’s 100-year anniversary. This post is part of a series highlighting 100 exceptional McGeorge School of Law alumni. 

Stay tuned for more blog posts as we celebrate the law school’s centennial anniversary.