Recall-mania has spread to Contra Costa County, where District Attorney Diana Becton has a recall effort in effect against her, though she’s been elected twice and may be better able to beat it than Chesa Boudin or Pamela Price were.
We noted this morning that a group said they had enough signatures to initiate a recall election to remove Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton from office. Since then, that group called Recall District Attorney Diana Becton has posted video to their website of a member serving Becton the recall papers.
But their appearance of momentum may be an illusion. They only needed 100 measly signatures to initiate the process, they got 103. This recall has not qualified for the ballot. Now the recallers begin the real work of gathering 72,000 signatures (10% of Contra Costa County’s registered voter population), which they would need to do within 160 days, or about five-and-a-half months.
The recall group said in the petition that “We, the victims of crime, their families, local business owners and employees, as well as residents of Contra Costa County, have reached our limit and are initiating the recall of District Attorney Diana Becton. We are increasingly concerned about the persistent cycle of unaddressed criminal activity. We are frustrated by her continuous empty promises to victims and their families that justice will prevail while she permits criminals to roam free.”
They do count among their supporters the family of Alexis Gabe, a 24-year-old seemingly killed by her ex-boyfriend, and the family is upset that Becton did not charge the ex-boyfriend’s mother as an accomplice. (The ex-boyfriend himself was shot and killed by police.) Another family involved is that of Damond Lazenby Jr., whose body was found in Concord in 2023, though the criticism of that case seems to come from the Coroner’s Office still not having completed their reports, as opposed to any charging decision by Becton’s office.
So does this recall have much of a chance? There does not seem to be any great public upswell against Becton, as there was with the recalled SF DA Chesa Boudin and Alameda County DA Pamela Price. Becton was elected twice, she’s the first African-American DA in Contra Costa County history, and seems reasonably well-liked. She did have one scandal over a backyard wedding during the height of COVID in early 2021, but that did not keep her from being reelected by a 56%-44% margin in 2022. (Mind you, on the very day Chesa Boudin was recalled.)
“I would say it’s a copycat phenomenon,” UC Berkeley’s School of Law criminal justice professor Jonathan Simon told the Bay Area News Group. “The success of the San Francisco recall against Boudin has empowered some groups to mobilize against their local district attorneys. These are mainly affluent communities with access to resources and time to put into such campaigns and not the people in the community most affected by crime.”
For what it’s worth, the Recall District Attorney Diana Becton Facebook page has about 2,000 followers. We’ll see if that translates to 72,000 signatures and an actual recall election.
Image: Diana Becton for District Attorney via Facebook
