Alameda County, California, District Attorney Pamela Price was recalled early Wednesday, less than two years after taking office, following backlash for her alleged soft-on-crime approach. The effort was backed by the recall committee Save Alameda for Everyone (SAFE), and passed with 64.8% of the vote, according to polling results from the county of Alameda. The committee includes former Alameda County prosecutors, county residents, community activists, and crime victims and victims' families, according to the committee's website.
It's been a long, hard 18 months, and we're hoping to see it turn around for all of the victims,' Brenda Grisham, principal officer for SAFE, told sources. 'And we're not just talking about laws that are out there, but she came into office and implemented her own laws, and they were just not conducive and safe for the citizens of Alameda County.'
'They spoke their mind yesterday, and I'm so excited,' Grisham said. 'We are thankful to the voters of Oakland for recalling Sheng Thao and to Alameda County for recalling Pamela Price,' Oakland Police Officers Association President Huy Nguyen said in a statement. 'Voters recognized their progressive leftist policies directly harmed and impacted residents, neighborhoods, working and middle-class families, and small businesses.'
The group filed the necessary paperwork to begin fundraising for the effort in July 2023. The recall effort had acquired nearly 75,000 validated signatures by May of this year, according to the New York Post. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors set a recall election date of Nov. 5 in May. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was also ousted from office after her recall effort passed with 65% of the vote.
Several Alameda County families had spoken out against Price in the months leading up to her recall vote. Florance McCrary, whose 22-year-old son was shot and killed by a stray bullet in 2016, became a vocal advocate in calling for Price's removal after she abruptly dropped the murder charge of her son's alleged killer last year. 'I was in total shock,' McCrary told sources. 'It was unbelievable to realize that for the fight that took over six years to get to that, it was diminished to nothing. And while sitting there in court, learning even from the judge, well, this is the best we can do.'
California Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell also came out in support of the recall vote, holding a press conference in October where he argued Price had failed victims of violent crime, according to KTVU. 'The cops catch, and Price releases,' Swalwell said. Swalwell also reportedly filed a defamatory claim against Price this week, claiming Price had made defamatory statements at a news conference a few weeks prior wherein she said that Swalwell wanted to recall her to 'shield himself from unethical practices' that occurred while he was serving as a deputy district attorney, according to KTVU.
'Pamela Price leaves me no choice but to file this claim against her for her deliberate and untrue statements,' Swalwell said in a statement to the outlet.
