In the race for Santa Clara County District Attorney, incumbent Jeff Rosen holds a lead in his bid to reign supreme for another four years. Early results show Rosen, who is running for his fifth consecutive term since he was first elected to the office in 2010, is ahead of his opponent Daniel Chung.<\/p>\n
As of Wednesday morning, the county had reported 19% of votes, most of them mail-in ballots. Rosen maintained a significant lead in these early returns, earning 60% compared to challenger Daniel Chung\u2019s 40%.<\/p>\n
The 2026 election<\/a> was in many ways a rehashing of the previous cycle, which pitted Rosen against Chung, a prosecutor who prior to running in 2022 was fired from Rosen\u2019s office. Chung had written an op-ed in 2021 for the Mercury News criticizing progressive criminal justice reforms that he said create a \u201crevolving door for repeat offenders.\u201d<\/p>\n Since then, the personal feud between the two candidates has led to three lawsuits from Chung against Rosen. Rosen has also attempted twice to fire Chung, only for these decisions to be overturned by arbitrators or personnel boards who opt for limited-term suspensions instead.<\/p>\n In June 2022, Rosen won the special election for DA against Chung, earning about 56% of the vote to Chung\u2019s 24%. It was the first contested election Rosen had faced since first being elected in 2010.<\/p>\n Now, the pair are once again facing off in a June election. Chung, who is currently deputy district attorney, has billed his campaign this cycle as tough on crime \u2014 and equally tough on corrupt officials.<\/p>\n His campaign website alleges that the current DA\u2019s office maintains prosecutors who withhold evidence and sleep with witnesses. Rosen has repeatedly denied to comment on these allegations.<\/p>\n \u201cFighting for victims, fighting for fairness for defendants, making sure everybody gets a speedy hearing, a speedy trial, making sure justice is not delayed in our community \u2014 these are all things that I love fighting for,\u201d Chung said in a campaign video.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the past year of Rosen\u2019s tenure has been colored by his prosecution of Stanford pro-Palestine protesters who allegedly broke into the university president\u2019s house in June 2024 as part of ongoing demonstrations urging Stanford\u2019s divestment from Israel.<\/p>\n Rosen initially charged 12 students with felony vandalism and conspiracy, but multiple defendants took plea or alternative deals. A jury could not reach a verdict for the remaining five students, and on Feb. 13 the judge in the case ordered a mistrial.<\/p>\n Immediately after the mistrial, Rosen vowed to retry the students. But Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Kelley Paul last month ordered his entire office\u2019s recusal<\/a>, citing a conflict of interest.<\/p>\n \u201cDA Rosen is not entitled to continue to pursue a case where he falsely describes the prosecution of the defendants as part of his fight against antisemitism while attempting to raise campaign dollars off that false description,\u201d Defense Attorney Avi Singh wrote in court documents.<\/p>\n Rosen\u2019s reelection campaign earned endorsements from several members of Congress who represent parts of Santa Clara County, as well as San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan<\/a> and the Palo Alto Police Officers\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n The next round of election results will be released by the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters by 5 p.m. Wednesday.<\/p>\n This story will be updated.<\/p>\n