San Francisco DA ousted in recall election

Voters have recalled San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin in a blow to a national movement toward more lenient prosecution.

Boudin was toppled by a campaign fueled by crime concerns and funded by business groups. Former prosecutors from his office had publicly joined the recall push, lending credibility to the recall effort.

The result is likely to reverberate far beyond San Francisco. Opponents of criminal justice reform and Republicans seeking to depict Democrats as weak on public safety will likely cite Boudin’s rejection in a deeply liberal city as evidence that voters are balking at efforts to ease sentencing and reduce incarceration.