San Francisco DA recall groups nearly double money raise of competitors amid crime spike
Group working to recall left-wing San Francisco DA 'very confident' it will meet its signature deadline
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two groups working to recall liberal San Francisco district attorney Chesa Boudin have raised nearly double the funds than two groups supporting the left-wing DA.
The San Franciscans for Public Safety Supporting the Recall of Chesa Boudin group has raised nearly $650,000, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Another group, the Committee Supporting the Recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin, has raised $273,000 since March.
FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020, file photo, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin speaks to reporters before his swearing-in ceremony in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) (AP)
Meanwhile, two groups that support the left-wing DA have raised a combined $485,000.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LEFT-WING SAN FRANCISCO DA FACES RECALL PETITION AMID CRIME SPIKE
Boundin, whose campaign for DA was bankrolled by donations tied to billionaire George Soros, is facing a potential recall over his soft-on-crime approach amid a crime spike, according to activists.
"He refuses to adequately prosecute criminals and fails to take drug dealing on our neighborhood streets seriously. He doesn’t hold serial offenders accountable and has released them from custody without consequences. Boudin’s response to victims? ‘Hopefully’ home burglaries will go down," states the Recall Chesa Boudin website, which was paid for by San Franciscans for Public Safety Supporting the Recall of Chesa Boudin.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SAN FRANCISCO DA CHESA BOUDIN PLEDGED NOT TO PROSECUTE PUBLIC URINATION
The Committee Supporting the Recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin has until Aug. 11 to collect 51,325 valid signatures to get the recall election on the ballot. The effort was the first recall group to form and has collected at least 46,000 signatures so far, with roughly 2,000 signatures collected in the last few days, according to spokesperson Richie Greenberg.
"We’ve got two weeks more or less to go, but we are very confident," Greenberg said of the deadline.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The San Franciscans for Public Safety Supporting the Recall of Chesa Boudin has until Oct. 25 to collect 51,325 valid signatures, and told Fox News they have collected 38,000 signatures as of Wednesday and aims to hit 70,000 before their deadline.
One PAC, called Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, bankrolled $400,000 to recall Boudin, which supporters of the DA describe as "alarming."
"District Attorney Boudin has stood up to powerful special interests so it’s no surprise that ultrawealthy individuals and dark money PACs have targeted him in an attempt to redo the 2019 election," Julie Edwards, spokesperson of Stand with Chesa, told Fox News. "These PACs have gone to great lengths to hide their donors from the public but San Franciscans won’t be fooled - we’ve heard from thousands of voters who stand with District Attorney Boudin and oppose the radical recall."
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Boundin himself sponsored the committee Friends of Chesa Boudin Opposing the Recall. While another group, the San Franciscans Against the Recall of Chesa Boudin, is a local branch of the Real Justice PAC, which works to support "reform-minded prosecutors" and was co-founded by controversial activist Shaun King.
Boudin’s office directed Fox News to the Stand with Chesa group when approached for comment on the matter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}San Francisco is currently seeing a spike in crimes, notably of shop lifting and hate crimes.
Business owners and security officials in San Francisco have recently decried the "lawlessness" in the city over shoplifting, and some businesses were forced to alter operating hours in response to the crimes.
"This is really bad. I’ve been in the Bay area 20 years, I’ve never seen this," a local security guard, J.C. Hernandez, told Fox News earlier this month.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s just lawlessness," he added. "People are just openly coming in and stealing stuff."
San Francisco has also seen a rise in hate crimes, with police reporting 28 hate crime cases in the month of June alone, and say the number of incidents is likely higher as many are never reported to officials.
"It's a shock. It's disturbing. It hurts my heart to see it happen in San Francisco," said San Francisco Police Commissioner Larry Yee of the crimes, according to KTVU Fox 2.