It appears that electoral "buyer's remorse" is continuing as Contra Costa's Diana Becton has become the next Bay Area district attorney to face a recall effort.

But before it ever reaches the ballot, proponents are facing an uphill battle.

It feels like the Bay Area's experiment with selecting progressive, reform-minded prosecutors has hit a wall. Joshua Spivak, a senior research fellow for UC Berkeley Law, said it started in 2017.

"They won all these offices, and it was kind of a big surprise. Now, there's this backlash. And that's what we're seeing in California," he said. "So, it's kind of an interesting dynamic that it succeeded very quickly and then there was a very, very rapid backlash."

The first to go in 2022 was Chesa Boudin in San Francisco, and then, in 2024, Pamela Price in Alameda County. Now, the Becton recall proponents posted a video of her being served with the recall notice, just prior to their filing of the required signatures to begin the recall process.

On March 22, the organizers of the initiative held a press conference, including Gwyn Gabe, whose daughter Alexis was murdered in 2022. The family blames the District Attorney for not prosecuting the mother of the suspect, who they believe helped him to elude capture.

"I'm here today to express my family's full support of this recall initiative," said Gabe. "Our commitment to continue stems from our determination to prevent other families from experiencing what we did under District Attorney Diana Becton."

The recall organizers are all family members of crime victims, each with a different story, but all are dissatisfied with the way they've been treated by the DA's office. 

Becton declined comment on Monday but in a response statement to the recall said, "This recall is not about safety — It's a politically motivated attack that misrepresents her record and undermines the will of Contra Costa voters."  

Initially, the process is pretty easy. The recall supporters only had to get 100 signatures to get the process started, but now the hard work begins.  

They will have to collect 72,000 signatures in the next 160 days and that can be expensive. It cost $2 million to collect the signatures to put Price on the ballot, something Gwyn Gabe admits they do not have.

"Currently we do not have a million dollars to support this initiative, nor do we have two million to hire signature gatherers," he said.  "But what we possess is our community, our families, the volunteers, and the residents of Contra Costa County who are frustrated with the current situation."

Spivak said, in California, recalls are a lot easier to start then they are to finish.

"In California, the real trick with all recalls is getting over that bar of getting the signatures," he said.  "That could be very hard.  I'd say somewhere between 3/4 and 2/3 fail at that stage, the signature gathering stage.  However, if you get the signatures, watch out. Because most recalls succeed. Most recalls lead to the removal of the official."

When it comes to the office of District Attorney, there is only one issue: crime. And people tend to vote their feelings on something like that, if it gets to the ballot at all.