A political action committee launched and bankrolled by liberal billionaire George Soros is pulling out of San Diego's district attorney race.
The California Justice & Public Safety PAC, which was established by Soros to support Geneviéve Jones-Wright, a far-left public defender, recently pulled an advertisement depicting District Attorney Summer Stephan as having a backlog of rape kits that needed to be tested. The ad came under fire for being false and misleading.
Now, the PAC is leaving the race entirely. Soros's PAC has cancelled all future advertisements in support of Jones-Wright, according to television station managers in the region.
Soros has spent hundreds of thousands on television advertisements, digital advertisements, and campaign literature and mailings in support of Jones-Wright after initially depositing $1.5 million into the California Justice & Public Safety PAC, the Washington Free Beacon previously reported.
Jones-Wright appeared at a secretive gathering held by the Democracy Alliance, a dark money donor network that was co-founded by Soros, last November to sit on a panel discussion on ramping up funding in district attorney races during the 2018 election cycle.
Jones-Wright, who told the Free Beacon in early May that she was "thrilled" to have the support of Soros, now has been dealt a major blow with the withdrawal of all upcoming media spots.
Other progressive groups such as the Real Justice PAC, which was cofounded by Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King and former staffers to Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign, have also thrown support behind Jones-Wright.
Jones-Wright's campaign did not return a request for comment by press time.
Soros, who has been quietly funding district attorney races across the country in recent years, normally sees his preferred candidate win the race. He has previously funded progressive district attorney candidates in Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and New Mexico, among other states.
The San Diego County district attorney election will take place on June 5.