Sonoma County D.A. easily defeats recall try
Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch overwhelmingly turned back a recall election brought on by a disgruntled developer who did not like her handling of the Tubbs Fire aftermath.
With all precincts reporting, Ravitch defeated the recall with 79.9% of the vote as opposed to 20.05% favoring the recall, according to the latest available data from the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters. A total of 126,669 votes were cast.
Ravitch, in her 11th year as Sonoma County prosecutor, called the recall “a one-person revenge campaign” during a phone interview.
“I am just so honored to have this widespread community support come out and send the absolutely correct message to this self-entitled bully.”
The recall campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
The recall campaign was launched and primarily funded by Sonoma County developer Bill Gallagher and his family. His was the first signature on the petition launched in October 2020, citing a list of grievances ranging from alleged cronyism and hypocrisy to failure to comply with the California Public Records Act, according to the Recall Ravitch website.
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that the underlying reason behind the recall was that the Gallagher firm was prosecuted for failing to protect residents of Oakmont Senior Living during the 2017 Tubbs Fire.
Oakmont was founded by Gallagher, and the firm paid $500,000 to settle the suit and shortly thereafter launched the recall campaign, according to the report.