Jenkins declares victory in SF District Attorney race; Thousands of ballots still to be counted

SAN FRANCISCO -- Incumbent Brooke Jenkins has declared victory in the race for San Francisco District Attorney Wednesday. although there are still thousands of ballots to be counted.

After several rounds of ranked-choice voting tabulations, Jenkins held a sizable lead of 56% to 44% over former police commissioner John Hamasaki. Challengers Joe Alioto Veronese and Maurice Chenier were eliminated in the first two rounds.

Jenkins's campaign issued a statement saying, "The latest ranked choice voting scenario ... shows Jenkins easily passing the required 50 + 1% threshold and will likely cruise to victory with over 55% percent of the vote." 

"I extend my thanks and gratitude to the voters of San Francisco for placing their trust in me to serve as District Attorney," said Jenkins in a prepared statement. "It is an honor of a lifetime to be elected and I pledge that improving and promoting public safety will be my and our office's top priority.". 

Hamasaki has yet to concede and there were some 100,000 votes still to be counted Wednesday. Jenkins told KPIX 5 Wednesday she had not yet heard from any of the other candidates in this race.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed congratulated Jenkins Wednesday, saying in a statement, "We have a lot to do to address public safety in this city. I look forward to continuing the work Brooke and I have been doing to protect San Franciscans." 

Breed says Jenkins "has sent a message that we need both accountability and reform, and the people of San Francisco have responded with their clear support. I will continue working with DA Jenkins and those who care about a safer and more just City." @KPIXtv

Wednesday morning, Hamasaki tweeted a statement saying, "no matter how" the race works out he is "grateful to live in the most amazing city" and will "always stand with you to fight to make it better."

Election results: San Francisco County | Bay Area and California 

Hamasaki has been a vocal critic of interim DA Brooke Jenkins' approach to crack down on drug dealers in the city. Challengers Joe Alioto Veronese and Maurice Chenier were eliminated in the first and second rounds, respectively.  

Breed appointed Jenkins in July to be interim District Attorney after the recall of former DA Chesa Boudin. The two took what amounted to a victory lap in Chinatown Wednesday after Jenkins pulled a sizable lead in her election, visiting a local gift shop and trying on bracelets.

Their presence marked a significant moment for resident Wendy Li who has worked at the Jing Ying gift shop for almost 11 years. She says the area under Jenkins has become safer and hopes her extended role as district attorney will bring increased security to the neighborhood she loves.

"I hope it will be translated to Chinatown for more police to come in and walk around and help people be more safe," said Li.

Jenkins has made it a public priority to prosecute perpetrators of hate crimes, particularly crimes against the Asian community - something Li says she has been a victim of.

"I'm going to continue doing the work out in each community to make sure that I understand what the challenges are in each respective neighborhood, talking to business owners to understand whether or not we're seeing progress with theft and burglary to make sure we're putting resources in the right places," Jenkins told reporters.

Jenkins has weathered some controversies since her appointment in July. About a month after her appointment, it was revealed she took a paid consultant job for a non-profit linked to the effort to recall Boudin. Jenkins told KPIX 5 she did not receive compensation from the recall campaign itself, releasing a statement that said in part: "My work for the non-profit organization focused on public safety...and other legal work supporting communities ranging from formerly incarcerated women to helping advise the business community on public safety concerns and issues." 

More recently, newly-discovered emails showed Jenkins may have broken the law when she sent classified case files to a personal email account last year. First reported by Mission Local, the emails obtained from the DA's office showed Jenkins forwarded the case files to fellow assistant DA Don Du Bain on October 16, 2021 – the same day she and Du Bain left their positions in the district attorney's office and joined the Boudin recall campaign.

Jenkins said she sent the emails to a personal account "inadvertently" and that the files weren't used for Boudin's recall campaign. She also insisted the release of the emails were politically-motivated.