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Chesa Boudin
Chesa Boudin was the San Francisco District Attorney in California. Boudin assumed office on January 8, 2020. Boudin left office on July 8, 2022.
Boudin lost the position in the recall election on June 7, 2022.
Boudin also participated in Ballotpedia's Candidate Conversation; click here to view a video of his responses.
Elections
2022
Chesa Boudin recall, 2022
Chesa Boudin lost the San Francisco District Attorney recall election on June 7, 2022.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✖ | Yes |
55.0
|
122,588 | ||
No |
45.0
|
100,177 | |||
Total Votes |
222,765 | ||||
|
|
2019
General election
General election for San Francisco District Attorney
The ranked-choice voting election was won by Chesa Boudin in round 3 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.
|
Total votes: 193,196 |
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
Campaign themes
2019
Candidate Conversation
Chesa Boudin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Boudin's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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First, we need to break the cycle of recidivism and treat the causes of crime at the roots. Right now, more than 2/3 of people who are arrested and prosecuted come back into the system within a few years. 75 percent of people booked into county jail are a person suffering from serious drug addiction, mental illness or both. If we treat the root cause of crime and prioritize treatment over jail and conviction rates, we can actually prevent crime and make our city safer. This also includes offering more diversion opportunities to help people move forward with their lives rather than holding them back.
Second, we need to enforce the law equally. We must end the rampant racism that plague every step of the process today. We also cannot have small, privileged groups whether politicians, police officers, landlords, or corporations be above the law. All of us must follow the law and the consequences for failing to do so should be the same no matter the color of our skin, job title, or size of our wallet.
Third, we need to prioritize victim’s rights. That means promoting restorative justice opportunities as often as possible and ensuring that every victim of every crime in this city can participate in the process and have their voice heard.
These broader goals will be accomplished through a range of policies and initiatives including:
Establishing a Wrongful Convictions unit;
Ensuring that the attorneys and victims services staff are culturally and linguistically fluent in the languages and cultures of the communities we serve;
Creating an online dashboard with real time data about every aspect of case management and outcomes to increase transparency, accountability, and to improve policy making;
Focusing on reducing recidivism rates rather than increasing conviction rates;
That’s why I’ve worked my entire life to reform the criminal justice system. In high school I spoke out in support of other children with incarcerated parents. In college at Yale I did research on racial bias and collateral consequences for immigrants in the prison system and studied abroad to learn Spanish. After a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford, I went to Yale Law school where I defended people against deportation and sued employers for wage theft and unlawful working conditions. After law school I clerked for two federal judges in California and then began working as a public defender in San Francisco to fight to end mass incarceration. As a public defender, I’ve handled hundreds of felony cases and tried dozens of cases to jury verdict. I’ve led the litigation effort to end money bail in California and helped launch the first-ever immigration unit at the Public Defender’s Office.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
San Francisco District Attorney 2020-2022 |
Succeeded by Brooke Jenkins |
| |||||||||
 |
State of California Sacramento (capital) |
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