Amna: It is primary election day
tomorrow in seven states and
rising crime is an issue top of
mind for many voters.
That is especially true in a
recall race for a Progressive
district attorney in San
Francisco.
Lisa Desjardins has more.
Lisa: His supporters hoped chesa
boudin would bring in safety and
criminal justice reform.
Three years later, the city's
top prosecutor has been tested
by a pandemic and a spike in
Many voters are not happy and
tomorrow they will get to judge
him and whether to recall him.
Understand this better I am
joined by politics editor Scott
Shafer with KQED in San
Francisco.
There are a lot of layers to
what is happening here.
Help us understand how Mr.
Boudin got here facing possible
recall.
Scott: He has a nontraditional
background.
He was a public defender, which
is unusual for someone who had
once been the top prosecutor in
the county, but he won.
His parents were members of the
weather underground.
From the time he was young they
were incarcerated for a robbery
that went bad and ended up with
two police officers shot and
killed.
He got into office without much
support from law enforcement in
San Francisco.
On top of that he takes office
before the pandemic in January
2020.
With the pandemic we saw crime
go up across the country, more
violence.
Add to that anti-asian he
crimes. -- Anti-asian hate
crimes.
A number of folks collected
signatures for the recall to put
it on the ballot, with help from
Republican donors and others.
Tomorrow voters will decide
whether he gets to keep his job
or not.
Lisa: Millions have been spent
on this recall election.
What did chesa boudin promised
to do when he ran for this
office as district attorney and
what has he actually done?
Scott: He promised to rebalance
the scales of justice.
The premise of his candidacy
was, the criminal justice system
is skewed against black and
brown men in particular.
If you look at the way the
criminal justice system has
dealt with crack cocaine versus
powdered cocaine, a lot of
people, not just Democrats,
believe it needs to change.
He wanted to go after low-level,
nonviolent offenders, especially
for drug possession, promise to
end cash bail.
He also promised, and this is
important, to hold police
officers accountable when
accused of excessive use of
force.
He has done all those things.
At the same time we have seen
the crime rate go up with viral
videos of smash and grab
shoplifting.
A lot of auto break-ins.
It created headwinds for chesa
boudin as he goes into this
recall election.
Lisa: We have seen a lot of
those headlines in San
Francisco.
What is the reality of crime in
San Francisco right now?
How much has to do with chesa
boudin?
Scott: San Francisco mirrors the
rest of California and the
nation.
If you look at the murder rate
in California, some counties
that are most conservative, like
kern county, had the highest
increase in murder.
That is not because of a liberal
district attorney.
I don't think you can blame
these trends on the district
attorney here or anywhere else.
They are bigger than any one
person.
He has been in office less than
2.5 years.
You can't say they happened
because he is the D.A.
That said, he has not helped
himself.
He comes across as abrasive.
In some ways this recall is
about him as a person and a
little bit about his policies.
It is more so about how he
handled the job, the kind of
manager he has been.
There are deputy da's who have
criticized his management.
All of those things will be on
the ballot tomorrow.
Lisa: What do you think we will
learn from this recall election?
What does it say about these
trends nationwide?
Scott: There will be attempts to
spin this if he loses his job.
Even in liberal San Francisco,
they are retreating from liberal
justice reform.
San Francisco is still a liberal
city.
We have a liberal attorney
general the ballot tomorrow as
well.
I am sure he will do well.
A lot of the policies that chesa
boudin and others have embraced
are supported by large
percentages of people in
California.
We need to be careful about over
reading the results, assuming he
is recalled.
This is one election about one
person at a time when law
enforcement agencies across the
country are grappling with big
problems.
Amna: Scott Shafer, thank you.
Scott: Thank you.