In Oakland, California, it appears Mayor Sheng Thao and District Attorney Pamela Price are on their way out, with voters supporting efforts to recall both officials less than two years after they took office. Both recalls are leading 65% to 35%, with 100% of precincts reporting. However, the results have not been finalized.
According to organizers behind the recall efforts, voters are celebrating the outcome, believing that both Thao and Price have been too lenient on crime, KTVU reports.
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Critics of Thao’s administration argued that she should not have fired Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong, and also blamed her for the departure of professional sports teams from Oakland.
Earlier this year, the FBI raided the mayor’s home as part of a corruption investigation. Thao, however, claimed her innocence. She wrote a letter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office demanding that the FBI clarify to her constituents that she was not the target of their investigation.
Thao declined to comment on the recall effort until the results are finalized but issued a statement the night of Tuesday, Nov. 5.
“No matter what happens, we are very positive and we are so excited about the results that we’ve been able to establish here in the city of Oakland in less than two years,” Thao said.
Behind the recall effort against District Attorney Price is Carl Chan, who helped lead the campaign. He told ABC7 San Francisco that voters “are saying that they’ve had enough of this district attorney, who has had failed policies and is not able to perform her job.”
Price’s supporters argue that she never had a fair opportunity to serve and called the recall effort a “Republican-backed coup.”
Just days before the election, Thao highlighted Oakland’s decrease in homicides, with police reporting a 32% drop compared to the previous year. The city also released crime data showing significant reductions in other crime categories: robbery is down 24%, burglary is down 55% and aggravated assaults have dropped by 15%.
Earlier this week, Straight Arrow News reported that Californians, frustrated by crime, voted 70% to 30% in favor of Proposition 36, which increases punishments for drug, theft, and property crimes.
Voters in Los Angeles also elected a new district attorney, Nathan Hochman, who ousted progressive incumbent George Gascon, who had been criticized for being soft on crime.
