by WorldTribune Staff, March 6, 2024
Petition organizers have gathered more than enough signatures to recall George Soros-backed Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.
Save Alameda County For Everyone in Oakland, California, turned in 123,387 signatures to qualify the recall question for the ballot, well above the 73,195 threshold.
The petitioners accused Price of “jeopardizing the safety of every resident and business in Alameda County by failing to enforce the law.”
“DA Price has unapologetically empowered criminals in an unprecedented way by refusing to charge cases, lowering sentences, and gutting the District Attorney’s Office of experienced, competent prosecutors,” Save Alameda County For Everyone said in a statement. “DA Price has replaced those dedicated prosecutors with unqualified and often incompetent individuals who have never fought for victims or prosecuted a criminal case.”
Alameda County has 10 days to verify the signatures.
“If the measure qualifies, the Board of Supervisors would be charged with calling a special election that organizers said could occur as early as May,” Valerie Richardson reported for The Washington Times.
Price was elected in November 2022 after a failed effort in 2018. In those races, she received more than $1 million from three political action committees funded by Soros, according to the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund.
“We’re sending the wrong message to the people committing crimes when there’s no consequences,” recall organizer Carl Chan said at a news conference outside Alameda County Superior Courthouse in Oakland.
Despite her brief tenure, Price has “already destroyed the integrity of the legal system,” Chan said.
The anti-recall Protect the Win campaign warned that a special election could cost the taxpayers $20 million and accused “a handful of super-rich people,” including hedge-fund partner Philip Dreyfuss and developer Isaac Abid, of seeking to “undermine the results of a fair and free election.”
“This undemocratic effort threatens to undo the strides we’ve made in Alameda County toward a more equitable criminal justice system,” Protect the Win said Sunday in a press release.
Price is the latest Soros-backed prosecutor to face early removal over concerns about rising crime and lenient enforcement policies.
In 2022, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was recalled after about two years in office. Boudin did not receive campaign contributions from Soros-funded PACs, but had links to other Soros-affiliated organizations, according to the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF).
“Pamela Price has no business being a chief prosecutor, and if not for George Soros’ millions, she wouldn’t be,” LELDF President Jason Johnson said. “Even the generally progressive people of Alameda County are sick and tired of her dangerous policies and embarrassing antics. If the voters do recall her, she’ll join the ranks of more than a dozen Soros-linked prosecutors who left office defeated or disgraced (or both).”
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, who has received $6 million in contributions from Soros-funded entities, was the target of a 2021-22 recall effort that failed to qualify for the ballot. He faced 11 opponents in Tuesday’s primary election, and is headed for a runoff.
A dozen Soros-backed prosecutors have left office in the past two years by losing their re-election bids or resigning before the end of their terms, often under political pressure. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has removed two prosecutors, saying they neglected their duty to enforce state law.
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