Supporters of the effort to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin are seen at event in October 2021. City records show Neighbors for a Better San Francisco Advocacy, the recall’s single biggest donor, hasn’t given a dime to any measures or candidates in the November election. (Kevin N. Hume/The Examiner)
Kevin N. Hume/The ExaminerHell hath no fury like a San Francisco voter in 2022.
A poll commissioned by The Examiner found San Francisco voters are unhappy with the direction of The City and are eager to heap blame on their elected leaders for failing to reverse it.
Mirroring the trends other public polls have found in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's primary election, The Examiner’s poll found residents are concerned about public safety, homelessness, drug dealing and the high cost of living in San Francisco.
None of the local elected officials that poll respondents were asked about — including Mayor London Breed and the Board of Supervisors — earned an approval rating above 50%.
And in yet another blow for San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin's prospects, 56% of respondents said they would vote to recall him in next week’s election, compared to just 32% who oppose the recall and 12% who are undecided.
While that is a closer margin than some earlier polls have found, the results align with other polls that clearly leave Boudin little chance of avoiding the recall.
The Examiner survey, conducted May 26-29, reached 541 likely San Francisco voters through online outreach and text messaging in English and Chinese. About half of respondents identified as white, 35% as Asian/ Pacific Islander, 9% as Hispanic and 3% as Black.
Broadly, the poll shows voters are dissatisfied. It found that 72% of likely voters in San Francisco believe The City is heading "on the wrong track."
Safety is a key concern. Two-thirds of respondents said they feel less safe in San Francisco today than they did 10 years ago, with a majority citing the prevalence of property crime, homelessness and mentally ill people on the streets as the reason for their unease.
Boudin’s impending recall might be the most visible consequence of voters’ anger, but he is far from the only official to bear the brunt of it.
Ex // Top Stories
George Washington auto shop teacher Andre Higginbotham calls it "the beginning of a revival" of teens' interest in automotive studies
Kamala Harris spoke at Applied Materials in Sunnyvale on the same day the company announced plans for a $4 billion semiconductor project
A BART officer has resigned during an investigation into his alleged use of racist slurs in a livestream video game
Though Boudin is the one facing a recall, a higher percentage of respondents to The Examiner’s poll found the Board of Supervisors or Mayor London Breed are primarily responsible for The City's direction.
Gillian Rude, one of the poll’s respondents, told The Examiner in a follow-up interview that she's concerned about The City becoming less affordable, its increasing homeless population and the prevalence of substance abuse disorder.
She's also worried about the "increase of people calling for a tough-on-crime approach" to some of those issues.
"I'm really troubled by the calling to criminalize poverty and addiction," said Rude, a born-and-raised San Franciscan.
Rude said she doesn't believe the "DA's office is where we're going to see that change really occur. I'm not a big believer in the idea that prosecution is going to solve a lot of these issues."
Kristen Villalobos is also concerned about the direction The City is heading in because she's seeing "people buying into a narrative that I don't think is true" about crime and public safety. She's also voting against the recall, calling it "undemocratic" and an "opportunity for people with a lot of money to pump a lot of misinformation out there."
A decade-long resident of The Tenderloin until she moved for cheaper rent during the pandemic, Villalobos said she feels as safe in San Francisco as she did 10 years ago. What she is worried about, she said, is housing affordability and homelessness, which are interconnected. Although many programs exist, she said The City "really needs to step it up" with subsidized housing.
Though homelessness is a top concern for voters, they give little credit to city leaders for trying to solve it. Only 25% of voters said city leaders are doing “a lot” or “some” to mitigate homelessness; the rest said city leaders are doing “a little,” “nothing at all,” or they weren’t sure.
Although voters are upset about the prevalence of drug use and dealing in San Francisco, they don’t embrace a harsher approach. When asked the best way to address drug addiction, 61% of respondents said they support expansion of treatment and services, compared to 33% who want police to require people with addiction to get treatment and 6% who want the government to play no role.
Even some of the hallmarks of Boudin’s tenure in office, including sending low-level criminals to diversion programs, have clear and broad support.
But voters remain unhappy with Boudin, who is running out of time to change their minds.
The Examiner poll was conducted between May 26 and May 29 by Change Research, a firm based in the Bay Area. The survey reached 541 likely San Francisco voters through online outreach and text messaging in English and Chinese. The poll has an overall margin of error of 4.5 points.
