Superior court judge, city attorney and numerous local prosecutors among applicants to succeed recalled District Attorney Pamela Price

Several current and former Alameda County prosecutors — along with a superior court judge, a city attorney and an arts school director — are among the candidates vying to succeed ousted District Attorney Pamela Price.

A total of fifteen people turned in applications by Monday’s deadline, seeking to become the county’s next top prosecutor after Price’s unprecedented recall in November. The county’s Board of Supervisors now must choose one of those people to serve until the next general election in fall 2026, in a selection process that’s expected to last through early February.

The candidates include nine current and former Alameda County prosecutors, as well as three people with experience prosecuting cases in other counties across California. Also submitting applications were a longtime Bay Area union attorney and the city attorney for Alameda.

Unlike in Oakland — where a special election is scheduled for April 15 to replace recalled Mayor Sheng Thao — the process for selecting a replacement for Alameda County’s recalled district attorney instead falls to the county’s Board of Supervisors.

A timeline set by the supervisors called for them to privately review applications this week before selecting several finalists next week, likely during their Jan. 14 meeting.

The finalists are expected to be interviewed during a public meeting the week of Jan. 20, with the supervisors likely voting on a replacement during a public meeting the final week of January. Under that timeline, a new district attorney would be sworn in on Feb. 4.

“We are looking at a very public process — it’ll be open and transparent, where people can comment and express support” for their favorite candidates, Supervisor Lena Tam said in an interview late last year.

One notable person not applying for the job is Royl L. Roberts, who was tapped to lead the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office during the roughly two-month transition from Price’s departure until the board’s selection in early February. He did not submit an application, despite having pulled the papers for the position on Christmas Eve.

Many of the candidates who met Monday’s deadline had already publicly signaled their plans to seek the post. Here’s a rundown of the candidates:

— Miiko Anderson, an attorney who spent more than 16 years as a prosecutor in Fresno County;

— Annie Esposito, a Contra Costa prosecutor who previously spent more than 25 years as a prosecutor in Alameda County;

— Ursula Jones Dickson, an Alameda County Superior Court judge since 2013 who previously spent nearly 15 years as a prosecutor in the county;

— Simona Farrise, an assistant district attorney who spent time during Price’s tenure leading the office’s Consumer Justice Bureau;

— Amilcar “Butch” Ford, a prosecutor with the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office who became a vocal critic of Price during his final years as a prosecutor in Alameda County;

— Venus D. Johnson, the chief deputy and senior advisor to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who worked as a prosecutor in Alameda County from 2008 to 2014;

— L.D. Louis, a deputy county counsel in Alameda County who previously spent 23 years working as a prosecutor in the county;

— Elgin Lowe, an assistant district attorney in Alameda County who is currently prosecuting the three alleged burglars charged in the 2023 shooting death of Oakland police officer Tuan Le;

— Kwixuan Maloof, an assistant district attorney in Alameda County who held multiple positions during Price’s tenure;

— Ocean Mottley, an attorney who has spent decades working with unions across the Bay Area;

— Arvon Perteet, a deputy attorney general for the California Department of Justice who previously spent time as a prosecutor in San Francisco and Contra Costa counties;

— Scott Tsui, a former Santa Clara County and Sacramento County prosecutor of 29 years;

— Yibin Shen, the city attorney for Alameda who implemented a rare arrangement allowing city attorneys to criminally prosecute many cases originating in the city;

— Seth Steward, a former San Francisco prosecutor who unsuccessfully ran in the 2022 Alameda County DA’s primary race and has spent the past two years working as executive director of The Crucible, an industrial arts school;

— Jimmie Wilson, an assistant district attorney who lost to Price during the 2022 election and has spent the last two years overseeing charging decisions in at both the Rene C. Davidson and Wiley W. Manuel courthouses.

Jakob Rodgers is a senior breaking news reporter. Call, text or send him an encrypted message via Signal at 510-390-2351, or email him at jrodgers@bayareanewsgroup.com.