Diana Becton, the relatively low-profile district attorney of Contra Costa County for the last seven years, has suddenly become California’s leading progressive local prosecutor.
With the likely recall of Pamela Price by voters in Alameda County, and George Gascón’s defeat for reelection in Los Angeles County, Becton is the only remaining district attorney on the advisory board of the Prosecutors Alliance of California, the state’s most prominent group of liberal prosecutors. She is also the first Black and first female district attorney in her county’s 167-year history.
She might still face the same kind of backlash that toppled her progressive colleagues. On Sept. 26, a group describing itself as representing “victims of crime, their families, local business owners and employees” said it was launching a campaign to recall Becton from office, claiming she “permits criminals to roam free.”