San Francisco voters will decide if progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin will keep his position, after a recall effort got enough signatures to appear on the ballot.
The city’s board of elections announced Tuesday that it had certified a petition to recall Boudin and the vote would take place in June during the statewide primary election.
Boudin was elected to his office in 2019, running as a former public defender pushing for criminal justice reforms like closing jails, holding police accountable for misconduct, and combating racism in the criminal legal system.
Within weeks of coming into office, Boudin fulfilled one of his campaign promises by ending the use of cash bail in the city. And last year, Boudin’s office charged a former police officer with homicide over the 2017 shooting of an unarmed Black man — the first time the city prosecuted a cop for a killing on duty.
If San Franciscans vote to recall Boudin, Mayor London Breed (D) would appoint his replacement until the next election.
Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom prevailed against an effort to recall him from his seat.
In a February special election, San Francisco residents will also be voting in a recall attempt targeting several school board members.
Some state legislators are pushing to reform the recall system in California, with state Sen. Steve Glazer (D) telling HuffPost in a statement in September that voters “want to see a more democratic process” that “prevents political gamesmanship.”
“We are confident San Francisco voters will reject this Republican-funded and endorsed effort,” the Friends of Chesa Boudin Opposing the Recall campaign said in a statement. “The recall is an attempt to reverse the reforms DA Boudin has enacted to keep us safe and make the criminal justice system fairer.”