San Francisco residents voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to remember District Attorney Chesa Boudin, one of the most progressive prosecutors in the country.
The San Francisco Department of Elections’ partial results on Tuesday night showed that the repeal measure – also known as Proposition H – was supported by nearly 60% of voters, with 40% against.
Boudin tried to reform the criminal justice system, ending the use of bail, stopping the processing of minors as adults, and focused on reducing prison populations in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Boudin also became the first San Francisco prosecutor to file murder charges against city police officers.
At a meeting on election night, Boudin told his supporters that he was just beginning to push for criminal justice reform.
“We have two cities. We have two justice systems. We have one for the rich and the well-connected and one for everyone else. And that’s exactly what we’re struggling to change,” he said.
“We know this is a system that has failed us systematically, not just for decades, but for generations.”
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin greets supporters after partial election results show voters withdrew on June 7, 2022. Proponents of the record said his policies made the city less secure. Noah Berger / AP
San Francisco Mayor Landon Breed will choose Boudin’s replacement.
Whoever is nominated will have to run in the general election to cover the rest of Boudin’s term, which was to last until 2023.
Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. They spent more than $ 7 million flying this message to San Francisco voters throughout the campaign.
“This election does not mean that San Francisco has shifted to the far right in terms of our approach to criminal justice,” Mary Jung, president of the withdrawal campaign, said in a statement. “In fact, San Francisco has been a national beacon for the progressive reform of criminal justice for decades and will continue to do so with new leadership.”
The impetus to remember that Boudin gained strength throughout 2021, as hate crimes against Asian Americans in San Francisco increased dramatically and the victims blamed Boudin, saying he was on the side of criminals. Proponents of her case have also been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
Boudin’s team maintained throughout the campaign that there was no direct correlation between the rise in some crimes and DA policies. But Tuesday night’s results indicate that voters did not buy that message.
The withdrawal in San Francisco could have implications for other progressive and reformist prosecutors across the country. Boudin narrowly won in 2019 as progressive prosecutors pledged to focus on alternatives to imprisonment and hold police officers accountable.
In Los Angeles, organizers are now close to gathering enough signatures to force a revocation vote by their district attorney, George Gascon. He was elected in 2020 and previously served as a San Francisco prosecutor. His resignation and subsequent move to Southern California paved the way for Boudin to take office.
There are still votes to be counted and the election results will have to be certified before Breed can nominate a replacement.
Breed has not officially considered the withdrawal of DA. In October 2019, Breed appointed Susie Loftus, the former chair of the San Francisco Police Commission, as interim prosecutor following Gascon’s resignation.
During that November election, Boudin won 36% of the support in the initial count, but San Francisco’s classified election voting system propelled him to victory over Loftus by less than 3,000 votes.
Last month, District Two Supervisor Catherine Stefani became the first elected official in the city to endorse the withdrawal. Several political activists involved in the withdrawal effort told CBS News that Stefani would likely be considered by Breed as a possible replacement.
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Musadiq Bidar
CBS News reporter covering the intersection of politics and technology.