by Laurel Duggan
A new poll showed San Francisco voters overwhelmingly back the recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
Roughly 68% of likely primary voters said they would vote to recall Boudin, including 64% of registered Democrats, according to a poll conducted by EMC Research. Nearly three out of four voters had an unfavorable opinion of Boudin, and 61% agreed he was “responsible for rising crime rates in San Francisco, especially burglaries and thefts.”
Boudin has attracted backlash and criticism for his perceived leniency toward criminals, vowing not to prosecute cases involving “quality-of-life crimes,” such as “public camping, offering or soliciting sex, public urination [or] blocking a sidewalk,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“We have a long way to go to decriminalize poverty and homelessness,” Boudin said.
These numbers are very promising, but we still have 82 days to go before Election Day on June 7th. Now is the time to support our effort to #RecallChesa. https://t.co/Ozl51akUdl pic.twitter.com/SAkV36iBDv
— The Successful Recall of Chesa Boudin (@safersfnoboudin) March 16, 2022
Crime has skyrocketed in San Francisco since Boudin took office in early 2020, with burglaries rising to over 7,000 in 2021 and motor vehicle thefts reaching about 6,000, according to data published by the San Francisco Police Department.
Rampant organized retail theft forced Walgreens to close numerous stores throughout the city in 2021. Democratic Mayor London Breed said the city needed to crack down on “all the bullshit that has destroyed our city” and use law enforcement more aggressive in in December 2021.
The poll found that 73% of San Francisco voters disagreed that Boudin was “keeping San Francisco safe,” and 69% disagreed with the statement that Boudin “does what is best for the community.”
The poll was conducted from Feb. 17-21 by EMC Research, and it sampled 800 likely primary voters, with a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
Boudin’s office declined to comment on the new poll but referred the Daily Caller News Foundation to an anti-recall campaign, which did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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Laurel Duggan is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Chesa Boudin” by Chesa Boudin.
