Chesa Boudin recall effort moves forward, signatures submitted to Department of Elections

SAN FRANCISCO - The effort to recall San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin moved forward on Friday and is a step closer to going before voters. 

Campaign organizers submitted 83,000 petition signatures to the city's Department of Elections. That's about 32,000 more than required. 

City officials now have 30 days to validate those signatures. If certified, an election will be held sometime next year. 

If Boudin is voted out of office, Mayor London Breed will choose his replacement. When Boudin was elected in 2019, he defeated interim D.A. Suzy Loftus, who was installed by Breed to complete former D.A. George Gascon's term. Loftus had Breed's endorsement in the 2019 race. 

Boudin was never the favorite for groups such as the SF Police Officer's Association, who were accused of trying to ‘buy’ the 2019 DA's race, having spent $650,000 in attack ads against then-candidate Boudin. 

As recently as last week, SFPOA appeared to take out their frustration over the city's vaccine mandate on Boudin. San Francisco Police Department employees face disciplinary action for not being vaccinated against COVID-19 or disclosing their vaccination status. The police union went as far as claiming Boudin was "happy" the policy was negatively impacting police and called him a "criminal enabler." 

Boudin retorted on Twitter that the claim was "absurd." 

But criticisms over Boudin's approach on criminal justice reform have gained traction. This is the second recall effort against him. The first effort, led by a former Republican SF mayoral candidate, reportedly failed to secure enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.