Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price conceded her recall election on Monday, nearly a week after Bay Area voters expressed their frustration with crime and homelessness by voting out multiple progressive leaders.
According to unofficial results as of Nov. 20, 63.1 percent of voters in the general election favored replacing Price, who had served in the position for less than two years.
Price is a former defense and civil rights attorney.
She had never prosecuted a single case when she was elected to the prestigious position. On the campaign trail, she promised criminal justice reforms and a “new era at the DA’s Office” if she was elected. She got a big financial boost from billionaire Democratic mega-donor George Soros and Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, when she first ran for the job in 2018.
She lost that race but ran again in 2022 and edged out Terry Wiley, the county’s chief deputy district attorney.
Soros, who funneled more than $5 million into his fundraising PAC, the California Justice & Public Safety, from 2018 to 2020, turned off the money tap to Price and Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon this election cycle.
Alongside Price, Oakland voters also ousted progressive Mayor Sheng Thao.
In San Francisco, Mayor London Breed lost her bid for reelection to a centrist opponent who vowed to crack down on crime and boost small businesses.
In a press conference that ran just under 20 minutes, Price outlined her office’s successes during a time when Gov. Gavin Newsom was forced to deploy additional law enforcement support to Oakland, which is within Alameda County’s jurisdiction.
“In November of 2022 Alameda County took a huge step forward toward a better criminal legal system,” Price said at Monday’s press conference, referring to her election win two years ago.
“Under my leadership as district attorney, we made incredible strides toward serving the victims in this county.”
She said her office “diversified the workforce for the first time in decades,” hiring speakers of Cantonese, Mandarin, Hmong, as well as more African Americans.
She said that a public accountability unit, created under her leadership, “exposed decades of prosecutorial misconduct, excluding Jewish, black residents and sometimes LGBTQ+ residents” from juries. She said there is evidence of an attempt to cover up the misconduct dating back nearly 20 years.
Price also noted that her team prioritized the reduction of gun violence, the fentanyl crisis, and human trafficking.
“We prosecuted murderers and other violent persons throughout Alameda County at a higher rate than my predecessor and we processed more than 12,000 cases,” she said.
She also said that she would leave with the largest grant portfolio in the history of the district attorney’s office, with more than $21 million in grants received since January 2023.
She credited the portfolio strength to Chief Assistant District Attorney Royl Roberts, who will lead the office as the interim district attorney until a new DA is appointed.
Before working in the Alameda County DA office, Roberts worked as an executive from the Peralta Community College District, where, among other positions, he served as chief assistant to the chancellor and general counsel of the district.
“We must not continue to have two systems of justice that are separate and unequal in Alameda County,” Price said during her press conference. “That is the way of the past. It is up to you and me to make sure that future leaders of this office remain independent decision makers and stay the course of holding public officials accountable, and law enforcement officers accountable, for their actions.”
Price initially ran on a platform including offender rehabilitation and police accountability.
During her tenure, Newsom deployed more law enforcement to Oakland, and recently extended the California Highway Patrol’s increased presence there.
“We will continue this important work as local leadership transitions,” the governor said in a statement.
Newsom had also sent state prosecutors and surveillance cameras to Oakland.
