San Francisco district attorney race is worth watching

ByLauren Martinez KGO logo
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
San Francisco district attorney race is worth watching
The race worth watching in the Bay Area this Election Day is the San Francisco district attorney's race.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Voters in San Francisco are heading to the polls Tuesday.

With no serious competition, incumbent Mayor London Breed is expected to win this re-election. But the race worth watching is the district attorney's race.

2019 ELECTION: Who's running for San Francisco district attorney

Voters will decide between four candidates.

ABC7 News Contributor Phil Matier says this will determine the direction the city will go in with homelessness, car break-ins and quality of life issues for the next four years.

"In this case, we have people on entire width of the spectrum. From public defender Chesa Boudin, who says the best thing would be to divert people, keep them out of jail and try and rehabilitate them... to Nancy Tung, who is a prosecutor over in Alameda County, who is saying no, some people have to be locked up. To in between, Leif Dautch, who works at the State Attorney's Office, who is saying I think we need to lock some of them up. And then we have Suzy Loftus, who is the mayor's pick, who is also in between, too," Matier said.

When we asked Matier if Mayor Breed's appointment to Loftus was an unfair advantage to the other candidates, he said no. "This appointment came in the last couple of weeks. It's not like Suzy Loftus will be able to put a stamp on things unless she is elected. Otherwise, this was more about getting attention than changing the course of public safety," Matier said.

Matier said Mayor Breed's endorsement could be a plus or a minus to Loftus.

Take a look at the latest stories and videos about the election.