San Francisco voters overwhelmingly opted to recall their progressive district attorney, Chesa Boudin, on Tuesday night, ejecting the reformer from office not three years after he was elected promising “radical change to how we envision justice.”

There was little suspense. Boudin trailed in numerous polls of the recall, with several surveys in the weeks leading up to the election showing the recall succeeding by double digits — a reflection of widespread frustration with life in a city that, like so many others, is facing acute, overlapping crises in housing, affordability, and certain types of crime.

San Francisco’s troubles are not, despite what the recall campaign broadcast throughout the city, Boudin’s fault. There is zero evidence to suggest that his relatively decarceral approach in the district attorney’s office caused a spike in crime; in fact, rates of violent crime in the city dropped between 2019 and 2021, and San Francisco’s murder rate remains low compared to other major cities.