San Francisco’s bitter DA recall could set back national justice reform movement

SAN FRANCISCO — Hours after winning election as San Francisco district attorney in 2019, Chesa Boudin stood, beaming, inside a packed dive bar in the Mission District.

“What comes next is critical,” said the 39-year-old public defender, part of the nationwide movement to elect district attorneys who seek to reimagine public safety and redefine the role of a prosecutor. “In many ways, getting here today was the easy part.”

Those words may have proved grimly prophetic for the newly minted D.A.

Boudin’s two-and-a-half-year tenure as San Francisco’s top prosecutor has resembled the “knife fight in a phone booth” adage often used to describe Bay Area politics. He has weathered attacks from across the city’s political spectrum; both the historically conservative police union and more moderate politicians such as Mayor London Breed have often criticized the would-be reformer.

His relationship with the city’s police department has faltered, and dozens of his own prosecutors have quit — some to help oust Boudin from office.

That fight comes to a head Tuesday, when San Francisco’s 500,000 registered voters will decide whether Boudin should keep his job.

The bitter, expensive recall election has turned into a referendum on some of San Francisco’s most painful and protracted problems, including homelessness, drug addiction