Things in San Francisco may get worse before they get better.

On Saturday, public defender Chesa Boudin won the race to become the city's top prosecutor. According to writer Erielle Davidson at The Federalist, Boudin has a long history of left-wing activism, including having worked for the late Venezuelan socialist dictator Hugo Chavez, who impoverished the South American nation before it became a failed state under his successor.

Raised by violent radicals

Boudin's politics are likely the result of his upbringing, as the 39-year-old was raised by violent left-wing activists:



Boudin's political leanings are fairly unsurprising. San Francisco's newest DA and self-proclaimed socialist is the son of former members of the violent revolutionary far-left group Weather Underground, an organization that rose to infamy in the 1970s and carried out as many as two dozen bombings of government properties. Both of Boudin's parents were imprisoned for murders related to a robbery they conducted as Weathermen, and Boudin's father David Gilbert is still serving time.



In his parents' stead, two other militant Weathermen, known as leaders within the organization, raised Boudin. Indeed, in an interview with Jacobin (yes, that Jacobin), Boudin spoke positively of how his four parents' "activism" has inspired his own work, despite the "mistakes" they all made—a supposedly "charming" detail that is fundamentally grotesque.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Saturday that Boudin worked for Chavez after graduating from Yale and earning a Rhodes Scholarship.



Boudin's candidacy has been acclaimed by American socialists, including the magazine Jacobin, which described him as "the child of revolutionaries."

In a lengthy interview with the socialist publication in May, San Francisco's new top cop described Weather Underground bomber Bill Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn, who the FBI once added to its "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list, as his "adoptive parents."

While it would be unfair to blame Boudin for his upbringing since children do not get to choose their parents, the newly elected socialist told Jacobin that, even as an adult, he feels fortunate to have been raised by the convicted violent radicals: "I was lucky to grow up in an environment where people cared about art and culture and politics and social justice, and where we were encouraged to think broadly about our role in the world and to recognize our privilege."

Democrats celebrate his win



The election of Boudin also underscores the growing radicalism of the Democratic Party, as his candidacy was supported by national political leaders and progressive activists.



Boudin's campaign was backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), according to The Guardian. Sanders congratulated the newly elected D.A. on Saturday with a tweet.

"Now is the moment to fundamentally transform our racist and broken criminal justice system by ending mass incarceration, the failed war on drugs and the criminalization of poverty," wrote the vocalist presidential candidate.



Presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who held the San Francisco D.A. position in the 2000s, also celebrated Boudin's victory.

"San Francisco has always been supportive of a progressive approach to criminal justice," she said. "It's the nature of that town and I congratulate the winner."

Meanwhile, anti-Israel activist Linda Sarsour said she was "crying" tears of joy following Boudin's victory and Harvard Law professor Lawrence Tribe said he was "proud to have endorsed him."

According to CBS News, the self-described socialist narrowly defeated challenger Suzy Loftus after four days of ballot counting in the city's unique ranked-choice voting system.