Chesa Boudin recall, San Francisco, California (2021-2022)

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Chesa Boudin recall
Officeholders
Chesa Boudin
Recall status
Scheduled (1) Did not go to a vote (1)
Recall election date
June 7, 2022
Signature requirement
51,325 signatures
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2022 Recalls in California California recall laws District attorney recalls Recall reports

Two efforts in San Francisco, California, to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin were initiated in 2021. Petitioners in the second recall effort submitted enough valid signatures to put the recall on the ballot. The recall election is taking place on June 7, 2022.

• The first recall effort, organized under the group called The Committee Supporting the Recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin, was approved for circulation on March 4, 2021. Recall organizers had until August 11, 2021, to submit at least 51,325 valid signatures to put the recall election on the ballot. There were about 49,600 signatures gathered at the time of the deadline.
• A second recall effort was started on April 28, 2021, by a group called the San Franciscans for Public Safety. Organizers had until October 25, 2021, to gather the same number of signatures in order to move the recall forward. There were about 83,000 signatures submitted at the time of the deadline. Director of Elections John Arntz announced on November 9, 2021, that there were enough valid signatures to put the recall election on the ballot.

Supporters of both recalls alleged that Boudin's approach has led to increased crime rates. The first recall effort was started by Richie Greenberg, who previously ran for mayor as a Republican. The second recall effort was led by a pair of Democratic activists "seeking to prevent the recall effort against District Attorney Chesa Boudin from being framed as a conservative power grab," according to The San Francisco Examiner.

Boudin argued that his goal has been reforming the criminal justice system and that the recalls are politically motivated. Both statements of defense provided by Boudin said reform is needed because "the old approaches did not make us safer; they ignored root causes of crime and perpetuated mass incarceration."

Recall vote

Chesa Boudin recall, 2022

Chesa Boudin is facing a recall election in the San Francisco District Attorney recall on June 7, 2022.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
			Yes
			No
			Total Votes

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Recall supporters

The first recall effort was organized by Richie Greenberg and The Committee Supporting the Recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Greenberg started a Change.org petition in January 2021 calling for Boudin's resignation over his handling of increased rates of crime in 2020. Petition language cited the following as reasons for a recall election:

“

Dereliction of duties; malfeasance; egregious waste of taxpayers' funds to the tune of nearly $400,000/annual compensation; fostering or exacerbating a culture of privileged, incendiary and politicized rhetoric towards the public; distorting of criminal justice data; implementation of a theoretical system of criminal justice which instead agitates and upends our neighborhoods causing crime spikes in every corner of our city. By definition, the public entrusts a District Attorney to prosecute criminals, yet instead every resident, small business owner and visitor to San Francisco has now become a criminal's target, and with near impunity.

”

The second recall effort was organized by Mary Jung and Andrea Shorter under a group called San Franciscans for Public Safety. Petition language cited the following as reasons for a recall election:

“

We all agree that we need real criminal justice reform and police accountability now. Chesa Boudin isn't delivering either priority — and since he took office, burglaries, car break-ins, homicides and overdose-related deaths are at a crisis level. Boudin is not keeping San Francisco safe. He refuses to adequately prosecute criminals and fails to take the drug dealing crisis seriously. He doesn't hold serial offenders accountable, getting them released from custody, and his response to victims is that "hopefully" home burglaries will go down. Boudin said he wouldn't prosecute "victimless" DUI offenses, and he failed to charge a repeat offender who then killed two pedestrians on New Year's Eve while driving intoxicated in a stolen car. Boudin has the wrong priorities. He promised to take sexual assault cases seriously. Instead Boudin asked sexual assault survivors about making amends with their own attackers. Boudin hasn't even kept his word on reforms. Three people died in interactions with police, and Boudin failed to prosecute any officers invovled. Recalling someone shouldn't be taken lightly, but San Francisco can't wait two more years to improve public safety and fix our criminal justice system. Chesa Boudin must go -- now.

”

Recall opponents

Boudin provided a statement of defense for both recall efforts, which were included on each individual recall petition. His statement for the first recall effort read:

“

Do not be misled by this Republican-initiated effort that will cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Voters elected DA Boudin to reform a legal system that criminalized poverty, punished those struggling with addiction and mental health, and targeted people of color. The old approaches did not make us safer; they ignored root causes of crime and perpetuated mass incarceration. In his first year, DA Boudin fought to: 1) Secure housing and transportation for victims of domestic violence; 2) Expand testing for survivors of sexual assault; 3) Provide support for small businesses; 4) Hold police who break the law accountable; 5) Increase hate-crime awareness; and (6) Protect essential workers during an historic pandemic. DA Boudin initiated over 4,500 new criminal cases to hold those causing harm accountable. A fringe lobby wants a recall to return to the failed policies of the past. They lie about crime, and about DA Boudin’s work to promote safety, DO NOT let them waste your money with a politically motivated recall. DO NOT provide your signature, money, or personal information to their scheme. DA Boudin is committed to public safety through building a legal system that promotes justice and enforces the law equally.

”

Boudin's statement of defense for the second recall effort was filed on May 5, 2021.

“

This is yet another recall relying on FALSE AND DISPROVEN REPUBLICAN talking points attempting to undo progress and take us backwards. Recalls are not political tools for people who lose elections. Voters thoughtfully and carefully elected DA Boudin because they support his work to reform an unjust system that too often criminalized poverty, addiction, and mental illness; failed to hold violent police accountable; and targeted people of color. The old approaches didn't make us safer - they ignored root causes of crime and perpetuated mass incarceration. In his first year, DA Boudin fought to: 1) Massively expand support for crime victims; 2) Hold police accountable when they commit unnecessary violence; 3) Create an independent innocence commission; 4) Establish an economic crimes unit to protect worker's rights. DA Boudin initiated over 5,000 new cases to hold criminals accountable. Reject this recall's Republican rhetoric — don't provide your signature, money, or personal information. Exploiting recalls for political purposes is an abuse of the process - it disrespects the will of the voters, and costs taxpayers millions of dollars. DA Boudin is COMMITTED TO PUBLIC SAFETY, and to reforming the criminal justice system to provide safety, justice, and fairness for all San Franciscans.

”

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in California

Recalls of local officials in California start with notices of intent to targeted officials. Each notice requires signatures from 10 city residents, the name of the targeted official, and reasoning for the recall that cannot exceed 200 words. A copy of the notice is delivered to the city clerk, who publishes the notice in at least three public places. Targeted officials have seven days following receipt of their notices to issue statements of defense. A recall petition can be circulated against each targeted official once the notice of intent is published.

In the first recall effort, organizers submitted a notice of intent to recall on February 8, 2021. Petitions were approved for circulation by the San Francisco Department of Elections on March 4, 2021. Petitioners needed to submit 51,325 valid signatures by August 11, 2021, to put the recall election on the ballot. Michael Barba of the San Francisco Examiner reported that there were about 49,600 signatures gathered at the time of the deadline.

Recall organizers in the second effort filed a notice of intent to recall on April 28, 2021. Petitions were approved for circulation on May 17, 2021, giving petitioners until October 25, 2021, to submit at least 51,325 valid signatures. There were about 83,000 signatures submitted at the time of the deadline. Director of Elections John Arntz announced on November 9, 2021, that there were enough valid signatures to put the recall election on the ballot. Arntz said he determined enough signatures were valid after conducting a review of 5% of the total number of signatures submitted.

Election history

2019 election results

See also: District Attorney election in San Francisco, California (2019)

General election

General election for San Francisco District Attorney

Select round: Round 3 Round 2 Round 1

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.

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Chesa Boudin	50.8	86,712	13,162	Won (3)
		Suzy Loftus	49.2	83,872	17,364	3
		Nancy Tung	0.0	0	-46,630	3
		Leif Dautch	0.0	0	0	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Chesa Boudin	39.4	73,550	4,745	Won (3)
		Suzy Loftus	35.6	66,508	6,501	3
		Nancy Tung	25.0	46,630	9,277	3
		Leif Dautch	0.0	0	-27,031	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Chesa Boudin	35.6	68,805	0	Won (3)
		Suzy Loftus	31.1	60,007	0	3
		Nancy Tung	19.3	37,353	0	3
		Leif Dautch	14.0	27,031	0	2

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There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 193,196

2019 Candidate Conversation

2019 Candidate Connection

Chesa Boudin completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Boudin's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

I want to make San Francisco safer and more just for everyone and here are three ways I’m going to do it:

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; Partnering with public health officials to treat every arrest as an opportunity to pair people with needed services.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

When I was just fourteen months old, both of my biological parents were incarcerated for driving the getaway car in a robbery that tragically took the lives of three men. My mother spent twenty-two years in prison. My father may never get out. I know the destructive impacts of mass incarceration -- I had to go through a metal detector and steel gates just to touch my parents. Although I was lucky enough to end up in a stable, loving family, I watched other friends with incarcerated parents end up in prison themselves.

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.

Throughout my life and legal career, I’ve consistently fought for underdogs. I’ve organized against war, advocated for social justice, and worked to end mass incarceration. I’m running for DA so I can continue my life’s work in pursuing equal justice for all.

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

• Recall campaigns in California
• Political recall efforts, 2022
• Political recall efforts, 2021
• City official recalls
• George Gascón recall, Los Angeles County, California (2021)
• Jill Ravitch recall, Sonoma County, California (2020-2021)

External links

Suggest a link

• Government website of San Francisco, California
• Office of the San Francisco District Attorney
• The Committee Supporting the Recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin website
• The Committee Supporting the Recall of DA Chesa Boudin on Facebook
• San Franciscans for Public Safety website
• San Franciscans for Public Safety on Facebook
• San Franciscans for Public Safety on Twitter
• San Franciscans Against the Recall of Chesa Boudin website