Ousted San Francisco district attorney won’t run again after recall

Chesa Boudin, the former San Francisco district attorney who was ousted in a June recall vote, announced on Thursday that he will not run again for his old office in November.

In a series of tweets, Boudin cited family reasons. His son, he said, “is on the verge of taking his first step and speaking his first word,” while his father was just recently released from prison after more than 40 years.

“I have devoted my public life to this effort because it makes our communities stronger & safer,” he tweeted. “I’ve also taken stock of the burden that more than three years of nearly non-stop campaigning placed on my family. I’m committed to criminal justice reform; I’m also committed to my family.”

“I am choosing to put my family first: I will not be running for office in 2022,” he added.

Boudin built a reputation as one of the most progressive top prosecutors in the country during his tenure as San Francisco’s district attorney, aggressively pursuing a series of criminal justice reforms including eliminating cash bail and working to reduce the number of people sent to prison.

But his time in office was also defined by frustration among many residents over persistent property crime and public drug use amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Those frustrations led to a recall vote in June, in which 55 percent of voters chose to oust Boudin from office. That vote was seen as a rejection of progressive approaches to criminal justice reform by voters in one of the nation’s most liberal cities.

Following Boudin’s removal from office, San Francisco Mayor London Breed (D) appointed Brooke Jenkins, who previously worked as the city’s lead hate crimes prosecutor, as interim district attorney.

Jenkins left her job in the district attorney’s office last year to support the effort to recall Boudin. She is also running in the November special election. A general election for district attorney will be held next year.