San Francisco residents voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to recall District Attorney Chesa Budin, one of the country’s most progressive senior prosecutors.
Partial results from the San Francisco Electoral Department on Tuesday night showed that the recall measure – also known as Proposal H – has the support of nearly 60% of voters, with 40% voting against.
Buden seeks to reform the criminal justice system by ending the use of bail, halting the criminal prosecution of juveniles as adults and focusing on reducing the number of prisoners in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Buden also became the first San Francisco prosecutor to file murder charges against city police officers.
At a rally on election night, Budin 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 well-connected and different for everyone else. And that’s exactly what we’re fighting to change,” he said.
“We know that this is a system that has been systematically failing us, not only for decades, but for generations.
San Francisco District Attorney Cesa Budin welcomed his supporters after the by-elections showed he was withdrawn by voters on June 7, 2022. Supporters of the reminder said his policies had made the city less secure. Noah Berger / AP
San Francisco Mayor Landon Breed will elect Budin’s deputy.
Whoever is appointed will have to run in the general election to fulfill the remainder of Buden’s term, which was to last until 2023.
Proponents of the withdrawal say Buden, a longtime public defender, is not aggressively prosecuting criminals, and said his introduction of progressive policies puts the safety of residents at risk. They spent more than $ 7 million to spread the word to voters in San Francisco during the campaign.
“This election does not mean that San Francisco has deviated to the far right in our approach to criminal justice,” said Mary Jung, chair of the recall campaign. “In fact, San Francisco has been a national beacon for progressive criminal justice reform for decades and will continue to do so with a new leadership.
The impetus to recall Buden is gaining momentum in 2021 as hate crimes against Asian Americans in San Francisco have increased dramatically and victims have blamed Buden, saying he is on the side of criminals. Proponents of Recall also cited car thefts and viral robberies in large stores, arguing that they were becoming commonplace as a result of Buden’s policies.
Buden’s team maintained during the campaign that there was no direct link between the rise of some crimes and the policies of the prosecution. But Tuesday night’s results show voters did not accept the announcement.
The recall in San Francisco could have consequences for other progressive, reform-minded prosecutors across the country. Buden won with difficulty in 2019, as progressive prosecutors promised to focus on alternatives to imprisonment and hold police officers accountable.
In Los Angeles, organizers are now close to collecting enough signatures to force a vote to withdraw their district attorney, George Gascon. He was elected in 2020 and was previously a San Francisco prosecutor. His resignation and subsequent relocation to Southern California paved the way for Buden to take office.
There are still counting votes and the election results will have to be certified before Breed can appoint a deputy.
The breed was not officially affected by the withdrawal of DA. In October 2019, Breed appointed Susie Loftus, former president of the San Francisco Police Commission, as interim prosecutor following Gasco’s resignation.
During the November election, Buden received 36 percent of the vote in the initial count, but San Francisco’s ranked voting system led him to victory over Loftus by less than 3,000 votes.
Last month, Second County Supervisor Catherine Stephanie became the first elected official in the city to approve the withdrawal. A number of political operatives involved in the withdrawal effort told CBS News that Stephanie was likely to be seen by Breed as a potential replacement.
Current news
Musadiq Bidar
A CBS News reporter covering the intersection of politics and technology.
Add Comment