Live blog: San Francisco voters weigh in on Chesa Boudin recall, state and national primaries

The results are in.

San Francisco voters ousted District Attorney Chesa Boudin and rejected recall reform. It was a decisive loss for the progressive prosecutor driven by deep pockets and fear of rising crime in the city. 

San Franciscans voted to approve most of the propositions on the June ballot, including several aimed at rooting out corruption in City Hall. 

We’ve compiled the results in a handy dashboard here. 

See below for the full roundup of how Election Day shook out.

Little has changed in the third round of results tonight now that 100% of precincts are reporting—but it’s important to remember that mail-in ballots will continue to roll in over the coming days. Voter turnout is rounding out at nearly 26%. For complete results, check out our election dashboard here.

Now that Boudin is out, Mayor London Breed will select his replacement in the coming weeks.

Asked about her interest in being appointed by Mayor London Breed to replace Boudin, Supervisor Catherine Stefani told The Standard “we shall see.”

Former Assistant District Attorney Brooke Jenkins also said she’s open to the possibility of an appointment to the head prosecutor position. She said she trusts the mayor will make a good decision.

“Voters weren’t asked to choose between criminal justice reform and something else,” Boudin said in a speech to his followers. “They were given an opportunity to voice their outrage and their frustration and they took that opportunity.”

“Let me make it very clear about what happened tonight. The right-wing billionaires outspent us 3-1. They exploited an environment in which people are appropriately upset,” Boudin said in reference to the state of San Francisco after two years of a pandemic.

“San Franciscans from different neighborhoods and different backgrounds sent a loud and clear message today,” Jung said. “Voters said loud and clear that they want a district attorney who prioritizes public safety for every community.”

Jung also slammed the anti-recall campaign’s narrative, saying “the voters also didn’t fall for Chesa’s misleading claims that the recall is a con or part of some national Republican-led effort.” She added: “This is an effort driven by and supported by San Franciscans who were fed up with Chesa Boudin’s failed leadership and the impact it’s having on our community and city.”

Results remained largely unchanged after the second round of returns was released at 9:45 p.m. DA Boudin’s recall now has around 60% support.

The recall of DA Chesa Boudin ends a saga that started almost as soon as the reform-minded prosecutor took office. Senior reporter Josh Koehn and Michael Barba break down how we got here.

Supporters for ‘Yes on H’ celebrate after early results come in indicating DA Chesa Boudin has been recalled.

Malia Cohen, a candidate for the statewide office of California controller was watching early election returns at Parklab Gardens surrounded by family and friends that put her in second place in the race’s nonpartisan jungle primary. The four Democrats in the race, including Cohen, are vying to likely face Republican Lanhee Chen in the November general election.

“I do have my eyes set on November,” Cohen said, adding some choice words for her likely challenger. “Lanhee Chen has never run for office and never held an elected office. As you know what you study in class, sometimes doesn’t match with the real world,” she said. When asked what she would do if she loses, she demurred. “I don’t have a plan B. I don’t have a safety plan. I’m all in.”

Recall supporters react to the first round of returns, which showed 61% in favor of recalling DA Chesa Boudin.

Early results show 61% of residents voting to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Check out our live results page for the full breakdown, including by-precinct data. At least two more rounds of returns are expected to drop tonight, so keep your eye out for early results on all eight propositions and a handful of national and state primary races. 

“I think it’s an unfair grab at the decision that the people made,” said private attorney Michael Galindo, speaking about the recall. “I’m really hopeful San Francisco voters will side with reason.”

About 60 supporters of the DA recall gathered at the Del Mar bar in the Marina District waiting for the first round of returns, expected soon. 

A group of Boudin supporters and the press gathered at The Ramp in Dogpatch and waited for Boudin to arrive. “I think the recall was a very bad idea,” said Michael Wall, a retired law professor and Haight resident.

That’s a wrap. First returns are expected to start rolling in at 8:45 p.m. and will reflect results from all ballots submitted prior to Election Day. Bookmark this link and check back soon for a full breakdown of early returns.

A rush of voters arrived at City College of San Francisco, Chinatown-North Beach Campus, to cast their ballots a few hours before the polls closed. The CCSF campus is usually a hub of activity, and today was no different for locals such as Earnest Sanders, who dropped his ballot out front while Board of Elections staffer Eric James helped transfer ballots from drop boxes to polling stations.

Just getting off work? It’s not too late to head to the polls.

Here’s how to make sure your vote counts.

Want an interactive look at the first returns as soon as they’re released tonight? We’ve built a page just for you.

Bookmark this link right now so when early returns drop, you’ll be able to see everything from early DA Boudin recall numbers to first returns on each proposition—broken down by precinct.

As more results roll in tonight, we’ll update the page and you can get a full breakdown of who voted for what.

Senior reporter Josh Koehn sat down this afternoon to discuss the recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin in a segment with The Standard’s media partner ABC7. Take a few minutes and listen to his conversation with anchor Karina Nova as they discuss how the recall effort started, what comes next if it succeeds and why the campaign to oust the progressive prosecutor has garnered national attention.

Residents are voting today—as they have in years past—at the San Francisco Columbarium & Funeral Home, a non-denominational crematorium known for its Neoclassical architectural style and elaborate stained glass.

The Columbarium holds the remains of many notable people important to San Francisco history, including Edward Taylor, the city’s 28th mayor. It was also once the resting place of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to a public office in California—who was later assassinated.

Though it’s unclear where she got her numbers, San Francisco progressive organizer and one-time Scott Weiner challenger Jackie Fielder took to Twitter late yesterday to claim that 89% of city voters under the age of 35 had yet to vote.

https://twitter.com/JackieFielder_/status/1533960549397999616

Two voting sites visited by The Standard this morning were mostly still, with a handful of voters trickling in each hour to drop off their ballots or vote.

Over at the Third Baptist Church polling site on McAllister St., staffer Robert Wilkes watched TV to pass the time, and Wesley Allen, a volunteer at a residential polling site on Scott St. admired the exterior of the pink Victorian home where polling was being conducted. It was at that location, around 9:30 a.m., that voter Jason Wolterstorff, with his dog Petey, stopped by to drop off his ballot.

It was a tale of two takes on Chesa Boudin’s record on guns, as the embattled DA sought to tout his progressive bona fides by calling attention to an endorsement from a group called Moms Demand Action Gun Sense in a since-deleted tweet. It didn’t take long for the official Yes on H Twitter account to counter (in an also-since-deleted tweet), pointing to a case involving gun violence, which it said proves Boudin is “incompetent.”

San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin hit the streets Tuesday morning, accompanied by Supervisor Dean Preston and the DA Office’s Director of Communications Rachel Marshall, in a last-minute attempt to reach voters and encourage them to vote “No on H.” Boudin handed out flyers to passersby near bus stops and crosswalks around Alamo Square and raised his fist in a sign of resolve to passing residents.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner took to Twitter to voice his support for Chesa Boudin this morning, urging San Franciscans to vote no on H. Krasner is one of the country’s most progressive DAs and is often mentioned in conversations about Boudin—along with Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon. GOP-sponsored state legislation crafted in 2020 to pave the way for his recall failed to pass and he cruised to re-election in November with 69% of the vote.

Did you vote by mail? Ever wonder how your ballot is counted? Unlike letters to Santa Claus—which are processed by speed reading elves (obviously)—your votes are counted with the help of machines, including a ballot scanner and even a ballot opener.

San Francisco could know whether Boudin lost the recall by the time the first results come in early tonight, depending on how bad they look for the district attorney. Elections officials plan to release several rounds of results beginning at 8:45 p.m. tonight. Boudin needs to capture a majority vote to survive, and vice versa for the recall campaign.

Available polling shows the long odds of Boudin’s efforts to stay in office—”t​​he only way he survives is if nearly everyone who supports him turns out,” longtime SF political analyst David Latterman told us last month.

The first round of results isn’t expected to look good for the progressive prosecutor, since the mail-in ballots that are counted first tend to skew more conservative. But Boudin is still in the game if he is behind by up to 10 percent points when the first results are in, according to Boudin campaign consultant Jim Ross. If the recall campaign is ahead by more than a 60-40 split from the outset, Boudin isn’t likely to survive. The vote won’t be certified for another couple weeks.

“It might not be final tonight, but we’ll know,” Ross said.

Go Vote! These are the ways you can make sure your vote counts: