The fog of flailing — or, to some citizens, clearly failing — left-wing politics lifted in San Francisco last night, at least partially, with the news that voters had ousted their progressive district attorney in a heated recall that divided Democrats over crime.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that  Chesa Boudin trailed by about 20 percentage points Tuesday evening, according to the latest figures from city elections officials. Around 60 percent of San Franciscans who cast ballots voted to recall him.

Recall proponents said Mr. Boudin was inexperienced and ideologically inflexible, often seeking to avoid charging criminals and siding with offenders over victims. His prosecutors were not permitted to seek cash bail, try juveniles as adults, or seek longer sentences for perpetrators with gang affiliations.

The discontent pitted Democrat against Democrat in the City by the Bay, where reports of burglary and motor theft are up from 2017 but overall reported crime is down. Recall proponents raised more than $7 million — at least double what his supporters collected — with funding from the real estate industry and a conservative billionaire.

“The right-wing billionaires outspent us three to one, they exploited an environment in which people are appropriately upset, and they created an electoral dynamic where we were literally shadowboxing,” Mr. Boudin said to his supporters following the news of the recall results. He also said that economic hardship brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to voter frustration and said that “we’ve made mistakes,” but did not say what those mistakes were. 

San Francisco, famous for its liberal politics, has in recent years become a billboard for unchecked urban decay, California style. SFGate reports that homicides and some property crimes have increased over the past two years, and that Mr. Boudin’s handling of fentanyl dealing cases drew scrutiny as well. The Los Angeles Times said that “the bitter, expensive recall became a referendum on some of San Francisco’s most painfully visible social problems, including homelessness, property crime and drug addiction.”

Mr. Boudin’s office had been locked in an open battle with the San Francisco police, which accused his office of withholding evidence in a case against an officer. His supporters said his platform was in line with voters who approved measures to reduce sentences. Mayor London Breed declined to take a position on the recall, highlighting political divisions in a Democratic city where leaders embrace immigrant and gay rights but have fought over police accountability and cracking down on drug dealing.

Mr. Boudin, 41, had never worked as a prosecutor when, in November 2019, he eked out a narrow 51 percent win over the more moderate candidate backed by the mayor.

Many were captivated by his personal story. Mr. Boudin was a baby when his parents, left-wing Weather Underground radicals, served as drivers in a botched 1981 robbery that left two police officers and a security guard dead. They were sentenced to decades in prison.

Recalls are being increasingly used in California. The state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, easily survived a recall in September, but three members of the San Francisco school board were ousted in February.

Mr. Boudin’s days as San Francisco’s district attorney are now numbered. He will be removed from office after serving just two and a half years of his four-year term, the Chronicle reported, and exactly 10 days after the Board of Supervisors formally accepts the election results. The mayor must choose his immediate replacement, and voters will elect a new district attorney in November.