UPDATE: 6:52 a.m., June 6, 2018
With all precincts reporting, District Attorney candidate Summer Stephan, a Republican and currently the acting interim District Attorney, has 63.7 percent of the vote. San Diego County Public Defender Geneviéve Jones-Wright, a Democrat, has 36.2 percent of the vote.
UPDATE: 11:28 p.m., June 5, 2018
With 40 percent of precincts reporting, District Attorney candidate Summer Stephan, a Republican and currently the acting interim District Attorney, is leading in the race against San Diego County Public Defender Geneviéve Jones-Wright, a Democrat, with 63.97 percent and 35.87 percent respectively.
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San Diegans are set to choose a new top prosecutor Tuesday as the two-candidate race for district attorney eliminates a November runoff. Voters will decide between San Diego County Deputy Public Defender Geneviéve Jones-Wright, a Democrat, and interim San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan, a Republican, who was appointed to the role last summer.
Stephan touts her 28 years in the prosecutor's office and points to her support for crime victims. Jones-Wright says she'll bring reforms to the office and fight for better rehabilitation opportunities for non-violent offenders.
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The officially nonpartisan race has drawn a substantial amount of money, particularly from outside sources. KPBS media partner inewsource recently reported Stephan raised $561,000 on her own and received $835,000 from outside groups — more than half of which came from the San Diego Deputy District Attorneys Association.
Jones-Wright raised $242,000 on her own but received at least $2.2 million in outside funding. The bulk came from a committee supported by a billionaire George Soros, an advocate for criminal justice reform.
Stephan's campaign criticized the funding from Soros on its website threattosandiego.com, which a KPBS fact-check found mischaracterized several of Jones-Wright's statements.
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A 10News-San Diego Union-Tribune poll late last month showed Stephan with a significant lead over Jones-Wright. According to the SurveyUSA results, "Jones-Wright's support is young, Democratic and liberal. Stephan's support is older, Republican and conservative."
The San Diego County District Attorney's Office prosecutes all crimes in the county expect for misdemeanors committed in the city of San Diego. The office charged more than 37,600 defendants in 2016, according to the most recent annual report. The agency's more than 1,000 employees, including roughly 300 deputy prosecutors, also support crime victims and participates in crime prevention programs, its website said.
