Deborah Brennan

Deborah Sullivan Brennan is the San Diego reporter for CalMatters, covering regional stories from a statewide angle. She writes about life, politics, the economy and environment in San Diego County. She covers topics ranging from border pollution to elections to higher education.

Throughout her career, Deborah has covered government, environment and education for newspapers throughout Southern California.

At the San Diego Union-Tribune, she reported on San Diego County government and such issues as marine pollution, sea level rise and drought. Her multimedia collaborations include a series explaining how votes are counted, an in-depth analysis of special education funding and profiles of the first high school graduates of the new millennium, which earned an award from the California News Publishers Association. 

She previously wrote about city hall for the Los Angeles Daily News, covering the San Fernando Valley’s bid to secede from the city, LAPD politics and ratepayer battles with the LA water and power department.

As a writer for the LA Times, Deborah investigated toxic hot spots in the San Gabriel Valley and unearthed stories about California’s backcountry in the mountains and deserts of Riverside County. And at the Palm Springs Desert Sun she broke news of a pyramid scandal involving high-ranking local leaders and reported on endangered species and sensitive desert habitat. 

She has a master’s degree in journalism and an undergraduate degree in peace and conflict studies from UC Berkeley. Deborah lives in North County San Diego with her husband, a wildlife biologist, and children. She speaks English, French and Spanish.