To the surprise of nobody, the supporters of the effort to recall Chesa Boudin turned in enough signatures to put the issue on the June 7 ballot.
If you spend enough money on paid signature-gatherers, who use all kinds of dubious practices, you can qualify almost anything these days.
“After spending $1.4 million, and using shady and misleading tactics, it’s no surprise that this radical recall has bought its way onto the ballot,” said Julie Edwards, a spokesperson for the campaign against the recall.
Now we will see a critical test of local politics.
Seven of the 11 supes have signed on to oppose the recall. Sup. Myrna Melgar isn’t on the website, but she told me she opposes the recall on principle. So has Assemblymember Phil Ting.
Assemblymember David Chiu didn’t take a position on the recall, and is now the city attorney. Mayor Breed has said nothing.
The recall will be paired with the traditional June primary, which could, conceivably, be the third election for Chiu’s seat.
The first attempt to recall Boudin, led by Republican Richie Greenberg, didn’t qualify. That effort relied on volunteer signature gathering.
This time around, the effort is directed and run by people who were supporters of Breed’s DA candidate, Suzy Loftus, who lost to Boudin. It’s not hard to see this as an effort to run a do-over, in the wake of a global pandemic, when crime patterns changed all over the country and courtrooms were closed so prosecutions were stalled.
This recall fervor—in this case, clearly driven by right-wing opposition to Boudin’s progressive policies—has the potential to change local politics. If you lose a race in which contributions are limited to $500, you can just go and file a recall, where contributions are unlimited, and let big money drive the election—and in San Francisco, give the mayor a chance to replace the elected candidate.
How much of the local political establishment will either go along with this or duck? Will the news media see this as a change for the mayor to replace someone who beat her candidate with the person she wants in the job?
The stakes in this campaign are huge, and go beyond Boudin.
