SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) — A second challenger has entered the race for Santa Clara County District Attorney (DA).
Last week, deputy district attorney Daniel Chung officially filed papers to run for DA in the upcoming 2022 election.
“This is my home community, I obviously care very deeply about this community and how criminal justice policies and platforms affect our home community,” said Chung.
Chung is now the second challenger to run against current DA Jeff Rosen after longtime public defender Sajid Khan launched his campaign back in August.
Rosen’s rise to DA came after he was elected over his boss, one-term incumbent Dolores Carr in 2010.
Rosen has since run unopposed in both the 2014 and 2018 elections.
“DA [Jeff] Rosen has been here over a decade and I think he’s lost touch,” said Chung.
“I’m running on a platform of restoring justice and what that means is I want a system where the criminal justice system can help restore not only victims but also defendants.”
South Bay native
Chung, a Milpitas native, attended Harvard and began his career as a prosecutor at the district attorney’s office in New York’s Bronx County in the gun crimes unit.
In 2018 Chung joined the Santa Clara County DA’s office prosecuting domestic violence cases and served in the violent felonies unit.
“I’ve prosecuted thousands of cases and over the course of the years I’ve learned how to interact directly with victims and witnesses, and how to evaluate defendants holistically,” said Chung.
“We’re in the business of serving people and at the end of the day we need to put our complete effort and energy and talents into making sure that we do the right thing for our people.”
Seeking change
Chung enters the race after he was placed on administrative leave in May after he wrote an unauthorized op-ed raising concerns about the rise in Asian-hate crimes and critiques over the DA’s office.
Chung tells KRON4 News he wants to run for DA to also bring forth the much-need change the office needs to address its internal challenges it currently is facing.
“Recently courts have been criticizing our office significantly for not recognizing basic things like conflicts of interest,” said Chung.
“I think that a DA is very distinct from any other type of politician because ultimately what we seek is truth and justice and when a DA ultimately lacks integrity, ultimately lacks competence, ultimately is pursuing his self interest more than the people’s interest,” Chung added.
“That’s problematic.”