THE JUNE 2 ELECTION to decide who will be Alameda County’s next district attorney features an incumbent, a former DA who was recalled from office and a prosecutorial newcomer.
Current District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson was appointed to the job by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors last January.
Her opponents include Pamela Price, who was removed from office by voters in a recall election, and Gopal Krishan, an attorney in private practice.
Ursula Jones Dickson
Jones Dickson took over the office from Royl Roberts, who briefly helmed the office following the November 2024 recall election that ousted Price.
Jones Dickson worked as a prosecutor under former district attorney Nancy O’Malley from 1998 to 2013 before being named a superior court judge by then-governor Jerry Brown.
Jones Dickson says her decades of judicial and prosecutorial experience, her focus on victims’ rights and her drama-free leadership style make her the best candidate for the job.
“We must have a District Attorney capable of managing an office of more than 400 people in a professional, fair, and focused way,” she says in her candidate statement. “In me, you have a DA for the people — for the victims and survivors who deserve justice, for the residents who deserve to feel safe going about their lives, for the people who want a DA who is proactive, collaborative, and open-minded.”
Endorsements listed on her campaign website include California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez, the Alameda County Democratic Party, several big unions, every mayor in Alameda County and all but one of the county’s supervisors.
Her latest campaign finance disclosure documents show that so far this year, for the period ending April 18, she raised $297,481 and has a cash balance of $421,208.
Her top contributors include the Alameda County Prosecutors Association Political Action Committee, which has given $40,000, and the Los Angeles-based California Real Estate Political Action Committee, which has given $7,500, as well as many individual contributors who have given amounts ranging from $100 to $5,000.
Pamela Price
Jones Dickson’s biggest threat in this election is most likely Price, who won the job in 2022 after O’Malley retired from office. Price previously lost a 2018 election to O’Malley with a vote of 57.8% to 42.2% and she also ran unsuccessfully for Oakland mayor.
Prior to her election, Price was a civil rights and criminal defense attorney who started her own law practice.
In 2022, she won voters over with a criminal justice reform platform and become the first Black woman to serve as district attorney in the county’s history.
She is now campaigning on a promise to reinvigorate those reform efforts.
She pledges to “reduce unnecessary prosecutions, ensure fair pre-trial practices, and end punitive policies that do not increase public safety” while holding law enforcement and public officials accountable when they cross the line, according to her website.
“In my first term — challenging 170 years of the status quo — we launched groundbreaking prosecutions, modernized technology, expanded victim services, tackled gun violence and increased police accountability while confronting historic case backlogs, prosecutorial misconduct, institutional resistance and a billionaire-funded disinformation campaign,” Price says in her candidate statement.
Almost as soon as she was elected, her opponents began organizing a recall against her — accusing her of being soft on crime and running a demoralized department — and she was removed from office with a 63% “yes” to 37% “no” vote.
Her latest campaign finance disclosure documents show that so far this year she raised $71,715 and has a cash balance of $14,301.
Most of Price’s campaign contributions have come from individuals giving between $50 to $1,000.
Her endorsements include famed activist Angela Davis and former head of the Black Panther Party Elaine Brown, as well as several current and former city council members from around the county, the Alameda County Green Party and the John George Democratic Club.
Gopal Krishan
The third candidate in the race is Krishan, an attorney with the Milpitas law firm Allied Legal LLC. Krishan specializes in banking, corporate, finance and securities law, according to his LinkedIn.com page.
His priorities include combating federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s racial profiling and “unlawful” operations and aggressively prosecuting hate crimes and organized retail theft operations.
“For more than 15 years, Gopal has stood beside families and businesses in their most difficult moments,” according to a statement on his campaign website. “Through his work and community advocacy, he has worked closely with families living in fear of action by ICE, supported victims of hate crimes, and seen the growing impact of organized crime on neighborhoods and small businesses.”
His latest campaign finance disclosure documents show that so far this year he raised $27,150 and has a cash balance of $21,641.
Krishan’s largest contributors include the Americans4Hindus Political Action Committee and a few individuals who have given between $1,000 and $5,000.
His supporters include several individuals, including cardiologist and founder of Americans4Hindus Dr. Romesh Japra.
More information about the candidates can be found on their websites — ursulajonesdicksonforda.com, electgopal.com and pamelaprice4da.com.
