By Ankita Joshi
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – With district attorney recalls happening soon in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, with whom will they be replaced if the recalls are successful?
In Los Angeles, voters will have a say in the potential replacement, but in San Francisco, the responsibility falls to Mayor London Breed.
An article by the San Francisco Chronicle reports that if Boudin is removed, “Breed will likely choose a successor who will roll back some of the policies intended to keep people out of jail, but that are held up by critics as too permissive to criminals.”
The article also notes that Proposition C, which will also be on the June 7 ballot, would prevent Mayor Breed’s appointee from running for office in November 2022 if Boudin is recalled.
The article listed Boudin’s possible successors, including Catherine Stefani, Brooke Jenkins, Nancy Tung, and Joe Alioto Veronese.
Stefani, the current District Two Supervisor, has previously criticized Boudin’s work, and was the first S.F. official to endorse Boudin’s recall.
In a recent article in the Marina Time, Stefani wrote, “Some have said that our law enforcement agencies should be focusing on ‘kilos, not crumbs’ when it comes to prosecuting drug dealers in San Francisco,” in a reference to a statement made by Boudin. 
In another article by the SF Chronicle, Stefani also criticized Boudin, making the claim that “many victims of crimes aren’t even served through the D.A.’s Office, because either the crime isn’t reported or no arrest is made or no charge is filed.”
Brooke Jenkins, a former homicide prosecutor under Boudin, has previously supported Boudin, championing his policies and their effects.
She has said she’d be honored to serve in a greater capacity, but has been “perfectly fine [prosecuting] in the courtroom.”
Nancy Tung, currently an Alameda County prosecutor who had previously lost to Boudin in the 2019 election, has publicly stated that she would be running if Boudin were recalled.
In the 2019 election, Tung ran on tough-on-crime policies, and received campaign contributions from the San Francisco Police Officers Association for the 2019 election.
In 2020, Mayor Breed nominated Tung to the Police Commission, but the nomination was rejected by the Board of Supervisors in a 10-1 vote.
The last potential successor, Joe Alioto Veronese, has already filed to run for DA in 2023, and is running on the platform of a “criminal justice reformer who can work well with the police department.”
Veronese is a former SF police officer, has served as a police commissioner, and has worked as a civil rights attorney for the last 22 years.
If elected, he has said that he would “more aggressively prosecute misdemeanors, something he feels is lacking from the current administration.”
“What I would immediately do is I stand shoulder to shoulder with the San Francisco Police Department and let them know that I will support you, and I will back you, as long as you operate within your training,” he has said in a previous interview with the SF Chronicle.
