Recalled Alameda County DA issues fiery statement, refuses to concede
Nov 15, 2024
(KRON) -- Recalled Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price has finally addressed the results of last week's election, which saw voters green light a ballot measure to oust her. On Friday, the embattled DA released a fiery statement, digging in her heels, and insisting there were still votes to count.
"I am honored to be a part of this diverse community and to serve as 'the Peoples' DA,'" Price said. "There are still so many ballots to be counted. The Registrar of Voters estimates that it still has to count more than 200,000 ballots."
The Associated Press called the recall last Friday, confirming that Price had been recalled with 64% of Alameda County voters supporting the recall and 36% opposing.
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In her defiant statement Friday, Price implied the recall was the product of a "plutocracy," defined as "the rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy" by Dictionary.com.
"A group of very wealthy people led by Phillip Dreyfuss and Isaac Abid, by spending millions of dollars on paid media and paid political operatives, may have successfully overturned a democratic election for the first time in the history of Alameda County," Price said.
Phillip Dreyfuss is a Piedmont hedge fund billionaire who contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to both the campaign to recall Price and the successful campaign to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. Isaac Abid is an Oakland real estate developer.
She also seemed to imply that her recall was connected to the reelection of President Donald Trump.
"It is not lost on us that this unprecedented step took place during the worst election in modern history where we elected to serve as the President of the United States a racist, misogynistic convicted and unrepentant felon who led a violent insurrectionist effort to overturn the November 2020 election," Price said.
"The merchants of fear, hate and discord have gained ground in our country and in Alameda County," she continued. "They have loudly (and proudly) proclaimed that we have taken a huge step backward."
Price reiterated that she would "wait until every vote is counted in Alameda County."
She signed her letter off with the Latin phrase, a luta continua, which translates to "the struggle continues."
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors is due to select a new district attorney in February of 2025.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who won her reelection bid following the 2022 ouster of DA Chesa Boudin, weighed in this week on the recalls of both Price and Thao.
"The Democratic party must shift [and] take a tougher approach on crime while Californians [and] Americans are demanding public safety as a fundamental right," Jenkins said. "We cannot allow anarchy in our cities -- the electorate has made this clear in San Francisco, Alameda [and] Los Angeles counties."
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, a progressive who was formerly San Francisco DA, lost his reelection bid to Nathan Hochman, a former Republican federal prosecutor.