Alameda County Board of Supervisors to begin search for DA Price replacement

ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- From the get-go, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price faced efforts to recall her. As of Friday, the votes are in and Price is out. The Associated Press called the race Friday night.

"We have never said, 'Lock-em-up and throw away the key.' We have always said accountability is the most important thing," says Brenda Grisham. She is with the group S.A.F.E., Save Alameda County For Everyone, which led the recall effort.

Price is the first district attorney in Alameda County to be recalled. And the second Bay Area DA to be ousted in the last two years, after San Francisco's Chesa Boudin. It is the latest blow to progressive crime policies in California.

Those backing the recall accuse DA Price of being soft on crime and not doing enough for victims.

Once the vote is officially certified, Price will step down. The Alameda County Board of Supervisor will appoint an interim district attorney, who will serve until the next election in 2026. Whoever wins will serve out the rest of Price's term through 2028.

MORE: Alameda County Board of Supervisors to begin search for DA Price replacement

"In bigger cities, bigger jurisdictions, across the country, when the recall has been successful - we have seen political opponents that have run before, fill that void," explains Professor David McCuan, who teaches political science at Sonoma State University.

Professor McCuan says the board will likely seek a candidate with a combination of prosecutorial, management and victims' rights experience - especially given the concerns raised by the recall.

"Victims and victims' rights organization have played a prominent role in this recall effort. And someone, who was an ADA or management level, not quite an executive level like a victims crime unit for example, could be stronger contenders as well," says McCuan.

Once the application process begins, the board will narrow it down to three to five candidates and then conduct public interviews. Those could happen as early as January.

"Many of the programs that DA Price started will prove effective over the longer term," says Cristine Soto DeBerry, Executive Director of the Prosecutors Alliance, a statewide organization focused improving the criminal justice system. She was against the recall of DA Price.

MORE: What will happen if Alameda Co. DA Price, Oakland Mayor Thao are recalled?

"And I hope the supervisors will be looking for somebody that is thinking incarceration can't solve every problem. Can't solve problems of poverty. Can't solve problems of mental illness," she adds.

DeBerry says the board will also have to balance the pursuit of justice against what she calls very real problems in the justice system.

"DA Price uncovered a very significant problem around the death penalty. Where Black, Jewish and LGBTQ citizens were being excused from jury simply because of the race or orientation. That is inexcusable. And it is unjust. And I know that the supervisors will care to have somebody that will continue to dig into that problem," says DeBerry.

Though it's mathematically unlikely the outcome will change, another round of election results will be released on Monday.

The Board of Supervisors did not return request for comment Saturday.