San Francisco recalls District Attorney Chesa Boudin

Amber CoakleyJune 8, 2022

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and his wife, Valerie Block, leave an election night gathering Tuesday, June 7, 2022, in San Francisco. San Francisco residents voted Tuesday to recall Boudin, a progressive, following a heated campaign that captivated the country and bitterly divided Democrats over crime, policing and public safety reform. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

OAN NEWSROOM
UPDATED 8:55 AM PT – Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Voters in San Francisco, California choose to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin. The embattled public official lost his seat in Tuesday’s elections with more than 60 percent of voters calling for his removal.

Critics cited his soft-on-crime policies as a contributing factor to the area’s surge in crime rates. They also cited an up-tick in shoplifting, burglaries and open-air drug dealing as reasons to recall him. Despite this, Boudin blamed his loss on being outspent three-to-one.

“Voters were not asked to choose between criminal justice reform and something else,” he stated. “They were given an opportunity to voice their frustration and their outrage, and they took that opportunity.”

Boudin is the first San Francisco district attorney to be recalled in the city’s history. Meanwhile, the recall effort for fellow progressive District Attorney George Gascon of Los Angeles could be on November’s ballot if the petition garners enough signatures.

🚨Chesa Boudin has already done enough damage—now, Biden must not hire him to work at DOJ.

We don’t need more soft-on-crime radicals in this Administration.

Biden should put this issue to rest and confirm that Chesa will not be joining his Administration.

— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) June 8, 2022

There has been speculation that Boudin may be picked up by President Joe Biden as an added member of his administration. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ariz.) took to Twitter to call on Biden to confirm this will not be the case. As of Wednesday morning, the White House has made no comment on the possibility.