Organizers Of DA Recall Demand Law-And-Order Replacement

ALAMEDA COUNTY — Organizers of the successful effort to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price say they want the county's next top prosecutor to be someone they can support, but they won't be suggesting a candidate to replace her.

During their first news conference after the Nov. 5 election, which Price lost with only about 37 percent support compared to 63 percent voting to recall her, Save Alameda for Everyone members asked the Board of Supervisors on Thursday to recognize what they called a "mandate" from voters.

"This is a mandate and telling the Board of Supervisors we, the public, the team here, have a mandate for them to not only replace the D.A. but replace the D.A. with somebody that's going to hold offenders accountable," SAFE campaign manager Chris Moore told a group of reporters on the steps of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland.

With Price leaving office, the Board of Supervisors is responsible for picking someone to take her place for the final two years of her term.

At the end of that term, the county will hold its regular election to find her permanent replacement.

Exactly how the board will go about selecting an interim district attorney is still an open question, but during their meeting next Tuesday, supervisors are expected to outline a process that will presumably include a pathway for identifying and interviewing candidates.

Brenda Grisham, SAFE cofounder, said the group won't be suggesting a candidate for the board to consider as Price's replacement but said that whoever it is should be ready to hit the ground running.

"Well, we're hoping that whoever they pick, they're picking somebody that's in it for the long haul," Grisham said. "(Price's replacement is) going to need to put their heads down and get in there and kind of, you know, get the department in order."

Price's professional demise was sealed by recall groups collectively spending more than $2.5 million in a campaign to blame her for crime in the county and hammer home the notion that she was soft on criminals and uncaring towards crime victims.

The recall campaigns were primarily run through two major campaign finance committees — Save Alameda For Everyone and Supporters of Recall Pamela Price, which had significant financial support from several East Bay police officers' unions, including Oakland's, and the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Alameda County, along with PG&E and Philip Dreyfuss, a wealthy hedge fund executive and Piedmont resident.

Price came into office in 2023, winning her election with roughly 53 percent of the vote and becoming the first African American woman to hold the county's top prosecutor job.

At the time, she was clear about her reform-minded policies, including not tacking on enhancements to charges in order to win longer prison terms in criminal cases, not charging juveniles as adults and finding alternatives to prison or jail for certain defendants, among other things.

Just a few months after she took office, however, opponents launched a petition drive and ultimately gathered enough signatures to place her name on a recall ballot, alleging that her progressive reform platform was too soft on criminals and led to increasing crime — making her the first district attorney in the county's history to face a recall.

Written by Kiley Russell/Bay City News

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