SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – The San Francisco Department of Elections released new numbers Friday in the race for District Attorney.
Chesa Boudin has taken the lead by 156 votes over Interim District Attorney Suzy Loftus.
As of Friday at 4 p.m.:
Chesa Boudin: 78,809 – 50.05%
Suzy Loftus: 78,653 – 49.95%
This is the first time Boudin has taken the overall lead.
The majority of voters have selected Boudin as their first choice. But thanks to rank-choice voting, Loftus has maintained the lead in the race – until today.
The department still has 13,000 ballots left to count.
Background on the DA Race
KRON4 held a debate with all four candidates in this race. Get to know the candidates by watching the debate here.
Mayor Breed appointed Suzy Loftus as interim DA last month after Gascon’s resignation. This controversial decision was met with protests. Critics of the move say Breed appointing a candidate she endorsed gives Loftus an unfair advantage over her rivals.
The candidate who has arguably garnered the most attention for wanting to bring change is Chesa Boudin. Boudin is a public defender who has been endorsed by Bernie Sanders and featured in both the Washington Post and Mother Jones.
Though he’s opposed by the San Francisco Police Officers Association. In fact, the association says they are neutral with other candidates but against Boudin.
Longtime prosecutor Nancy Tung is also a candidate in the race. She says San Francisco is top of the list for property crimes and reports filed per capita.
Deputy State Attorney General Leif Dautch is also running for the DA’s top spot as well. He supports the creation of an auto burglary task force and wants to crack down on drug dealers plaguing the city.
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