San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon appears set to hold onto his seat although he did not reach a majority in the initial round of the ranked-choice voting process in Tuesday’s election.
Gascon had more than 42 percent of the votes, compared to about 23 percent for criminal justice scholar David Onek and 21 percent for Alameda County prosecutor Sharmin Bock, according to complete unofficial election results.
Because Gascon did not reach 50 percent, the race will now be decided by San Francisco’s ranked-choice system, which allows voters to rank up to three candidates.
Candidates with the lowest vote totals are eliminated and their second- and third-place votes are reassigned until someone gets to at least 50 percent.
“We feel good about the numbers, but we’ll wait until the final returns come in,” Gascon’s campaign spokeswoman Maggie Muir said. “We never take anything for granted.”
Gascon was previously San Francisco’s police chief but has headed the district attorney’s office since January, when he was appointed by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom after Kamala Harris was elected as the state’s attorney general.
Gascon’s opponents in the race have criticized him for his lack of prosecutorial experience and perceived conflicts of interest in cases involving the Police Department that he previously oversaw.
The city’s Department of Elections will release updated results in the race at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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