Alameda County voters oust hard-left DA Pamela Price in landslide, historic recall because she made communities feel unsafe

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Although the East Bay’s Alameda County hues bluer than the bay itself, residents had had enough. They don't feel safe. As Californians statewide reversed a permissive stance on crime via Prop 36, Alamedans for the first time in history recalled their prosecutor—a progressive who just wouldn’t prosecute enough. KTVU’s Lisa Fernandez reports.

In 2022, Price won by vowing not to overcharge or overcriminalize defendants, especially Black and brown youth.

But the political tides have changed since then, as evidenced by voters approving Proposition 36, which increases penalties for theft and drug trafficking, and becoming more Republican in California counties that flipped from [blue to red] this election.

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A group named SAFE, which stands for Save Alameda for Everyone, organized the recall, arguing that Price – a former civil rights attorney – didn’t prosecute defendants with harsh enough charges, and therefore made the community unsafe.

Now that Price has officially been recalled, the highest ranking officer in her office, Chief Assistant District Attorney Royl Roberts, is expected to take over, according to the East Bay Times.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors would then appoint an interim district attorney, who would serve until the next general election in 2026.

It wasn’t immediately clear if a special election could also be held, or if the interim DA would just hold the seat for a year and a half.

Read the whole thing here.

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Related:

• “People just got fed up”: Why SF voters keep sliding center

• Oakland pol analyst: Residents undergoing “psychological turnaround” on Defund the Police, finally “adding 1+1”

• Far-left progressives routed in SF's Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) elex

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