OAKLAND – Pamela Price’s self-proclaimed “ exclamation point in history ” – that moment when she became the first Black woman to serve as Alameda County’s top prosecutor – is at risk of ending in a whimper barely a third of the way into her first term. The former civil rights attorney is battling the latest multi-million dollar recall campaign in the Bay Area targeting a progressively-minded district attorney. Not only is Price’s own political future at stake on the Nov.
5 ballot, but so is the basic notion of whether a progressive approach to criminal justice is sustainable in Northern California. Price’s opponents have framed the recall as a necessary step to protect the voice of crime victims who feel sidelined by the new administration. Yet her supporters deride the campaign — officially initiated a mere six months into her six-year tenure — as nothing more than a pet project of one well-heeled hedge fund manager, numerous real estate donors and aggrieved former county prosecutors.
“The last several years, the progressive movement has been on the defensive,” said Jason McDaniel, an associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University. “The question is: Is that being caused by progressive overreach, or is it something else?” The recall election comes after the successful June 2022 recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin , who voters booted from office during his first term. That nationally-watched recall el.