Several networks called the race in favor of the recall less than an hour after polls ended.
The recall effort against the Democratic district attorney became a bipartisan renewing call by Republicans keen to oppose a public official whose progressive criminal justice reform policy formed the image of lawlessness and danger in San Francisco. Meanwhile, local Democrats sought to distinguish their support for police reform from Boudin’s policies, widely seen as sympathetic to criminal suspects.
A member of the California Democratic Party Executive Board, Nima Rahimi, wrote an op-ed last week expressing his support for the recall effort. He condemned "Boudin's disingenuous campaign" while defending his consistent support for criminal justice reform measures, a position reflected by many San Francisco Democrats who are otherwise liberal but feel Boudin's policies have gone too far.
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"Personally, I believe Boudin harms our party's goals on criminal justice reform, in part, because people have died and will continue to die as a result of his choices and his policies. We have to hold ourselves accountable," Rahimi wrote for SFGate.
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When the San Francisco Board of Elections certified the petition in October, organizers offered more than 83,000 signatures to election officials, requesting a recall election, roughly 32,000 more than required to put the issue on the ballot. The effort later gained broad support even in Boudin's office, with two prosecutors leaving the district attorney's office and joining the effort to recall him that same month.
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Supporters of the recall effort suggested Boudin's policies toward criminal justice often sought to avoid charging criminals or settled for reduced punishments, while his supporters claimed his platform fell in line with voters who backed measures to reduce sentences.
A recall effort against Boudin was exceptionally provocative given his narrow victory against Democratic candidate Suzy Loftus, who supported his removal from office. Boudin defeated Loftus by just 2,840 votes in the 2019 general election.
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The now-removed district attorney brought significant criticism in 2019 for eliminating cash bail and refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In March 2021, Boudin's public perception also took a hit when he overlooked the killing of an 84-year-old Thai immigrant as a "sort of temper tantrum" gone wrong.
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The vote to oust Boudin hardly comes as a surprise, as public polling data suggested the district attorney was in danger of losing his post after the city's elections board certified the recall petition against him. Nearly 56% of likely voters said they would vote to recall Boudin, according to a public survey conducted from May 26-29 by the San Francisco Examiner.
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