East Bay voters had their say on whether to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, and it looks like they chose to send both packing.
With all precincts reporting early Wednesday, voters supported both recalls by a clear and nearly identical margin: 65.2% to 34.8% for Thao, and 64.8% to 35.2% for Price.
However, Price has not admitted defeat and urged patience while all ballots are counted.
“This presidential election, which has been a pivotal moment for our country as well as our state, witnessed significant voter participation, resulting in a large number of ballots in Alameda County. There are still so many more ballots to be counted, and in areas that I know we did well in getting our message out,” said Price in a statement Wednesday. “I am optimistic that when all the votes are counted, we will be able to continue the hard work of transforming our criminal justice system.”
Thao’s office did not respond to The Standard’s inquiries.
Both officials are progressive women of color elected in 2022. They have criticized the recall efforts against them as being waged by billionaires. But both had political blunders that drove enough residents to sign petitions to put their recall on the ballot.
Price, the first Black woman to hold the DA post in Alameda County, assumed office as part of a wave of progressive prosecutors seeking to reform criminal justice across the nation. The 67-year-old pledged to reduce sentences, stop charging youths as adults, and prosecute misconduct by police.
But Price’s tenure coincided with a spike in violence and property crime that her opponents used to criticize her prosecution practices, claiming she created a system of “catch and release.”
Price’s opponents organized against her just six months into her six-year term. (A 2022 state law modified the election cycle for some state offices.)
Save Alameda for Everyone, which raised nearly $4 million for the recall, argued she was reducing sentences for criminals, refusing to charge violent felons, and failing to support victims of crime. Her office missed deadlines to file charges in more than 1,000 misdemeanor cases that had been sitting on her desk for a year.
Thao also faced criticism for being soft on crime. Organizers of Thao’s recall said the effort was sparked by the mayor’s management of the police department — particularly, by firing Chief LeRonne Armstrong.
There were other criticisms. Gov. Gavin Newsom sent CHP officers, prosecutors, and surveillance cameras to help suppress crime, and the FBI raided her home as part of a political scandal. But one of the most culturally significant, and probably most lasting, strikes against Thao is the departure of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team for Las Vegas.
Thao, the first Hmong mayor of a major U.S. city, argued she should stay put since she balanced the budget, inked a deal to redevelop the Coliseum, and stemmed a spike in violent crime to the point that the city saw no reported homicides in October.
If confirmed, the recall will be Oakland’s first in more than a century.
The union representing Oakland police officers issued a statement Wednesday praising the ouster of Thao and Price.
“Voters recognized their progressive leftist policies directly harmed and impacted residents, neighborhoods, working and middle-class families, and small businesses,” said Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association. “However, tremendous damage has been done by both Thao and Price. There will not be a quick recovery, and the road ahead will be challenging.”
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will appoint Price’s successor, who will serve until the next general election in 2026. The winner in that election year would fill the rest of the term until 2028.
Thao will leave office as soon as the election is certified. The city council president will serve as interim mayor until the winner of a special election can serve out the rest of Thao’s term.