California voters appeared to reject liberal challengers in three closely watched district attorney races on Tuesday, delivering a sharp defeat to a national network attempting to reshape the criminal justice system by electing left-leaning prosecutors.
A consortium of wealthy liberal donors and activists, headlined by New York billionaire George Soros, contributed millions of dollars to battle candidates backed by money from law enforcement groups. Four races dominated. In Sacramento, Alameda and San Diego counties, the challengers lost. In Contra Costa County, their candidate—Diana Becton, a former judge appointed as district attorney last year—was 500 votes shy of a majority and will likely face a runoff against career prosecutor Paul Graves in November, according to initial returns posted by county elections offices. It’s unclear how many ballots remain to be counted.
“I don’t think they suggest that the movement to elect reform prosecutors has hit a wall,” said Stanford Law Professor David Sklansky. “It’s still very difficult to run against an incumbent district attorney.”
[For more on this story by ABBIE VANSICKLE and MAURICE CHAMMAH, go to https://www.themarshallproject...formers?ref=hp-1-111]
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