The Other DA Race: The Landslide San Francisco District Attorney’s Race

For months, the Los Angeles County District Attorney election has been the main focus of D.A. elections in the state. As it pits progress incumbent George Gascon against former Assistant U.S.  Attorney General for the Tax Division and current General Counsel for Ross LLP Nathan Hochman, the latter of whom has gone after Gascon’s record as D.A., the poll results have been a landslide. Currently Hochman is up by a whopping 24 points, with voters in LA County flocking to him because of his opposition to Gascon’s reformist policies and the worsening crime figures they have brought.

However, up North in San Francisco, another big battle has been brewing, but this one being between a progressive candidate and a D.A. who has been tough on crime. Like the LA DA race having been built up since Gascon first got into office in late 2020, the San Francisco DA’s race has been building up since 2022. The year, following several years of failed progressive policies, DA Chesa Boudin was ousted in a recall election by over 55% of the vote. Seeing that someone tougher on crime was needed to appease the majority of citizens in the city, Mayor London Breed appointed longtime Boudin critic and former SF assistant DA Brooke Jenkins as the next D.A.

Out of the gate, Jenkins cleaned house, reversing many of Boudin’s policies within days of being appointed and firing many assistant DAs still loyal to Boudin. This included Boudin acolyte Ryan Khojasteh. Over the next few years, Jenkins managed to combat many crime problems in the city, even refusing to charge the Walgreens security guard in the Banko Brown shooting with a crime, something that many of the fired assistant DAs said they would have charged him on. She even went after County Courts for refusing to prosecute drug dealers. While her record was no means perfect, with crime and public still major public safety issues, her approval ratings have been high, especially compared to Mayor Breed who has had polls showing that 60% of the city approve of what she does.

When it came to the DA’s race this year, Boudin said he wouldn’t run, leading to a scramble amongst progressive candidates. Eventually, earlier this year, Khojasteh came out as the one running against her. However, while he wants to bring back many reformist policies and take revenge on Jenkins for taking Boudin’s old job and firing him, San Franciscans haven’t been keen on the idea. Unlike the LA DA race, which has gotten attention because of problems with crime in the County, and the San Francisco Mayoral race, where former Mayor Mark Farrell is narrowly beating Breed in the polls despite her passing several eleventh hour laws to crack down on crime and homelessness, the SF DA race has been going solely in Jenkin’s favor. Polling centers haven’t even bothered to do a poll on the race as Khojasteh is so far behind.

Jenkins over Khojasteh

This can be seen in support numbers for each candidate, with Jenkins supporters far outnumbering Khojasteh supporters at events, as well as through campaign funds. Currently, Jenkins has over $325,000 raised, while Khojasteh barely has above $75,000 in his war chest.

Jenkins can also easily go back to her record of reversing Boudin policies and prosecuting more and more criminals. For Khojasteh, he’s in a bit of a rut. He has promised o prosecute more criminals, but that point has put him at odds with many potential supporters. He has also distanced himself from Boudin. While an overall smart move, he has been losing out on many of his supporters as a result, not to mention making many of his progressive supporters think twice. The overall result is Khojasteh being far behind.

“It will be a landslide for Jenkins based on everything we’ve seen,” said LA County pollster Manny Rodriguez to the Globe on Friday. “I’ve talked with my colleagues in San Francisco about this, and no one wants to do a poll on the race. Everyone seems to know it is a done deal. No one wants to go back to Boudin-era policies up there.

“You know, for the DA race down here, Gascon is such a big name and his policies have been so divisive that so many people have wanted polls, even if it is just to make sure that Hochman is really that far ahead. That isn’t a problem up North. They don’t want one of Boudin’s people in. And Jenkins has many problems, but she at least has a record of removing Boudin policies. And that is making the world of difference.

“And look at that fundraising disparity. When the numbers are that far apart, it is kind of over, especially in mid-October. It doesn’t surprise me no one has really polled up there. It’s, well, obvious.”

A San Francisco DA poll is unlikely to be done before election day.