SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – As votes for the California primary election are counted, the measure to recall San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin's lead has shrunk, indicating the defeat of embattled progressive prosecutor is narrower than first projected.
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With 100% of the vote counted as of Sunday afternoon, 55.05% of the 221,527 voters properly casting their ballots opted to recall Boudin. Nearly 6,900 voters who cast ballots in the statewide primary didn't weigh in on the measure, raising the total counted voter turnout to 46% of those registered in the city.
The recall had a 60-40 advantage after the last batch of ballots were counted by the end of election night, and the Associated Press had seen enough at 9:04 p.m. on Tuesday to project Boudin would be recalled.
Trailing by a little over 22,000 votes, Boudin's shrinking deficit calls into question just how resounding the recall's victory – which some national outlets have already framed as an overwhelming defeat for Boudin, the criminal justice reform movement at large and even a potential bellwether for Democrats in this fall’s midterm elections – will end up being.
For instance, the recalled members of San Francisco's school board were voted out by much wider margins in an election with lower turnout (36%) this February. More than 76% of voters in that contest chose to recall Alison Collins, 72.1% voted to recall Gabriela López and nearly 69% opted to oust Faauuga Moliga.
Boudin, who ran on eliminating cash bail, reducing the prison population and holding police accountable for misconduct, narrowly won office in his first election. He received 35.7% of first-choice votes in the 2019 ranked-choice election for District Attorney. After the third round of voting, he assumed office after winning 50.8% of the 170,584 votes cast.
99,571 California voters voted against the recall, totaling 44.95% of the state's registered voters who participated in the primary election.
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