Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen is well ahead of his challenger in his bid to hang onto his job in early primary election results.
In a two-man race for the seat, prosecutor Daniel Chung, a deputy district attorney in Rosen’s office, is challenging Rosen for a second consecutive election.
Rosen earned more than 50% of the vote in a three-man primary in 2022. This time, initial results showed him leading with more than 60% of the vote, while Chung carried just shy of 39%.
If the early results hold, because there are only two candidates, Rosen will win the seat and avoid the November general election to determine who runs the DA’s office for the next four years.
“I’m very happy that it looks like the voters have elected me to another four-year term, and I’m eager to serve them and continue to try to drive crime even lower and to make our justice system even fairer,” Rosen said Tuesday evening at an election watch party in downtown San José.
Chung did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Santa Clara County district attorney runs the largest prosecutor’s office in Northern California, and Rosen has been at the helm since 2011. The county has about 2 million residents, and the office sees about 40,000 cases a year, according to the county.
Rosen said Tuesday the next four years will bring financial uncertainty at all levels of government and vowed to be a strong voice for public safety.
“Public safety is foundational, fundamental and it’s nonnegotiable,” he said, promising to protect it “like a lioness guards her cubs.”
Chung was working as a prosecutor when disputes arose between him and Rosen over an op-ed Chung wrote in a local newspaper.
Rosen initially fired Chung, but his job was restored in arbitration. Rosen ultimately put Chung on paid leave and barred him from coming to work, as Chung continued to file local and federal lawsuits against Rosen.
In written interviews with KQED ahead of the election, Rosen touted his long tenure and said the county is one of the safest large counties in the country. He also pointed to his office’s focus on combating gang and gun crime, retail theft and drug dealing, while also creating “mental health, drug treatment and veterans’ courts, which reduced incarceration.”
Chung, who graduated from Harvard College and Columbia Law School, focused on his local roots in Milpitas and his successful run as a prosecutor in New York City and Silicon Valley. He said he wants to “stop overzealous political prosecutions” and ensure prosecutors are trained to “pursue justice with integrity, competence and compassion.”
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