Pamela Price recall effort has strong early lead
The county said nearly 400,000 ballots had come in by mail from about 960,000 voters, and 70,000 were cast in person. More are coming.
Support to recall DA Pamela Price held at 65% throughout Election Night, with numerous news sites reporting that she may lose her job.
The first round of ballots to come in after Alameda County polls closed at 8 p.m. showed more than 95,000 votes in favor of the recall and about 52,000 opposed.
The margin began at 65% and never changed throughout the night despite four subsequent updates.
The final Election Night tally from the Alameda County registrar of voters showed 134,256 voters supporting the Price recall and 72,977 against it.
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Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao also ended the night in a precarious position with 65% supporting her recall and 35% opposed, according to the available ballots.
But many Alameda County ballots remain to be counted.
The next update from the ROV is not expected until Thursday evening.
As of Tuesday, the county said nearly 400,000 ballots had come in by mail from about 960,000 registered voters. Another 70,000 were cast in person.
As of Election Night, more than 230,000 ballots had been counted.
The registrar of voters will continue to accept Alameda County ballots over the next week as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.
In 2020, the county saw a turnout of 81%.
Read more about Pamela Price on The Scanner.
Pamela Price has been on shaky ground since the beginning of her term in January 2023, facing steep criticism for not only her policy changes but also how she's run the office and treated veteran staff.
Many families of homicide victims have spoken out against Price, saying they felt disrespected and shunted aside in favor of criminal defendants.
Price has also run into trouble for at least one significant First Amendment violation and been sued by a former spokeswoman who said Price helped cover up public records and discriminated against Asian-Americans.
Meanwhile, her supporters have staunchly defended Price, Alameda County's first Black female progressive district attorney.
Price was elected by 53% of the electorate in November 2022 and ran on a platform of change.
Since then, she has fought hard for resentencing, argued against transferring juveniles to adult court — no matter how serious the crime — and undertaken a high-profile review of death penalty cases that she said revealed how Black and Jewish jurors had been excluded in decades past.
Emilie Raguso
If Pamela Price is not recalled, her term won't end until 2028.
That's because, in 2022, changes to state law related to DA elections gave her a six-year term rather than the usual four.
Pamela Price recall: What happens next?
If voters do choose to remove Price, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors is set to appoint a replacement DA who would serve until November 2026.
At that point, a new DA would have to run for election.
No one has come forward publicly to declare interest in the job.
BREAKING: First round of results in DA Pamela Price recall election show 65% in favor and 35% opposed. pic.twitter.com/tf6uSUKl7d
— The Berkeley Scanner (@BerkeleyScanner) November 6, 2024
As of early Wednesday morning, the Price campaign had not posted anything on X regarding its perspective or post-election plans.
But the recall campaign, dubbed Save Alameda For Everyone (SAFE), wasted no time declaring victory.
"We did it," a campaign rep wrote just before 1 a.m. "We are ushering in a new focus on Public Safety and a shift away from the failed policies of Pamela Price and the progressive left."
On Election Day, California voters also approved Proposition 36, which was designed to increase penalties for repeat thefts and certain drug crimes.
And, in Los Angeles, prominent progressive prosecutor George Gascón was ousted by a former federal prosecutor, numerous news outlets reported.
