When it comes to addressing political rumors, the most effective strategy might be to sidestep them with a wink and a smile. San Francisco’s top prosecutor did exactly that Friday.
In a wide-ranging, live-streamed interview with The Standard, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins gave early hints at her political future and voiced concern over the future of fentanyl prosecution in San Francisco under the Trump administration.
During her reelection bid this season, which she handily won, Jenkins emerged as an outspoken Democrat urging the party to take a more tough-on-crime approach. Her rising profile sparked rumors she’d run for the attorney general seat that Rob Bonta may vacate for a gubernatorial run in 2026.
Earlier this year Jenkins opened a committee to support Proposition 1, a state ballot measure to fund behavioral health services. She introduced herself to voters statewide while stumping the issue.
When pressed by reporters, Jenkins did not admit to or deny any political ambitions but said she will eventually seek other opportunities.
“Here’s a little nugget I will give you. I’m 43 years old. I don’t think I will retire as the DA of San Francisco,” Jenkins said. “Right now, look, my focus has been getting the job accomplished.”
There’s a precedent for Jenkins’ rumored career path. Kamala Harris, who was also a moderate-leaning, San Francisco district attorney, went on to become state attorney general, senator, vice president, and Democratic Party presidential nominee.
Jenkins addressed rumors that Harris would run for governor in 2026.
“We’ll have to see if Kamala Harris decides that a little break would be enough, and that she wants to come back into the game here,” Jenkins said. “I think it would be exciting.”
The district attorney also addressed the stubborn Tenderloin open-air drug markets and her collaboration with federal law enforcement to tackle them.
Jenkins said her office has had great relations with the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, Ismail Ramsey, that have “significantly contributed” to the progress San Francisco has made prosecuting drug dealers in the Tenderloin and downtown. Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi helped make San Francisco part of the federal government’s “Operation Overdrive” to combat fentanyl in 2023.
However, Trump’s election creates uncertainty as Ramsey, a Biden appointee, will likely be replaced by a new appointee. Trump has reportedly considered threatening federal assistance for sanctuary cities that block his efforts at mass deportations. That may imperil the joint operations, Jenkins said.
“There will have to be a discussion. I don’t know what’s going to unfold,” Jenkins said. “I don’t know whether they will respect the fact that we have sanctuary city obligations that we must abide by, from my office’s standpoint, and whether we’ll be able to reconcile that.”
Jenkins thinks Trump’s federal prosecutors will continue tackling drug dealing cases and would take fentanyl “very seriously.” But “there may be a distance” in the coordination if sanctuary city disagreements aren’t resolved, she said.
Jenkins also reflected on Democrats’ losses nationally and in San Francisco. Harris and Mayor London Breed both lost at the polls, which Jenkins attributed,at least in part, to Democrats’ struggles to address voters’ crime concerns.
“We’ve denied there’s a public safety crisis. We’ve told people who are suffering that the data doesn’t reflect their experiences. But that was a failure,” she said.
Jenkins said the Democratic Party has lost sight of bread-and-butter issues like public safety, messaging “what feels good and what sounds good” instead of practical solutions to everyday problems.
She pushed back on the “tough on crime” label, recasting her policies as “thoughtful on crime” and more balanced. Her critics have said she’s swinging San Francisco in a conservative direction, including reigniting the war on drugs.
Perhaps demonstrating that Jenkins has waded into murky waters, public records show that in October she met with Ricci Wynne, a social media influencer who lambastes San Francisco’s open-air drug markets as a Fox News talking head. Late last month, Wynne was arrested on suspicion of pimping.
“At that time, he was an advocate for cleaning up the Tenderloin. And so he wanted to sit down and have a conversation,” Jenkins said. “I made myself available to have that discussion about the work that I was doing in the Tenderloin and to address some of his concerns. That is separate and apart from what private behavior somebody is engaging in that may come to light later.”