The Soros family has quietly rebuilt a hefty funding push for progressive prosecutors, redirecting millions into political committees aimed at shaping local criminal justice policy ahead of the 2026 cycle. This article lays out who’s getting money, why the spending matters for bail and sentencing, the backlash those prosecutors have faced at the ballot box, and how the family’s wider philanthropic machinery supports the effort.
Records show the family routed significant sums into political action committees that support reform-minded district attorneys. Democracy PAC, now overseen by Alex Soros, funneled about $1.7 million into Justice & Public Safety PAC between March 2025 and April 2026. That cash is part of a broader push to influence local prosecutors and the policies they pursue.
The renewed spending looks like a bet on a second wave of influence, even after a string of high-profile losses for Soros-backed prosecutors in recent elections. Organizers appear to be refocusing on local races where policy choices on charging, bail, and sentencing have real impact. The timing suggests an effort to get ahead of the 2026 campaign season.
Targeting prosecutor races is strategic: these offices control decisions that affect who is detained, what charges are filed, and how long people serve. Small shifts in charging policies can ripple into crime patterns and public perceptions of safety. For donors, backing friendly prosecutors is a way to shape criminal justice outcomes without running for office themselves.
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The Soros family has long paired philanthropy with political giving to push criminal justice reform and other progressive goals. George Soros transferred operational control of the family’s network to his son Alex in 2023, keeping the family’s funding apparatus intact even as individual races shifted. That network includes PACs and nonprofits that can move money where strategists see advantage.
Justice & Public Safety PAC has backed a roster of prominent, controversial prosecutors who became lightning rods in conservative circles. Names tied to past funding include Pamela Price, George Gascon, Larry Krasner, Kim Gardner, and Kim Foxx. Those officials became focal points in debates over public safety and prosecutorial discretion.
Critics argue that some progressive prosecutors let dangerous offenders walk, contributing to spikes in crime and a loss of public confidence. Supporters counter that harsher incarceration policies do not fix root causes and that focusing on prevention, rehabilitation, and equity can reduce recidivism. The clash is effectively about whether public safety is best served by tougher punishment or by broader social interventions.
George Gascon’s tenure drew particular scrutiny for policies that scaled back sentencing enhancements and reduced misdemeanor prosecutions, sparking pushback from inside his own office. That internal dissent grew into an organized recall effort as crime trends worried voters. The fallout made Gascon a cautionary tale for both donors and candidates.
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Larry Krasner has also been criticized for reducing prosecutions amid rising homicide counts in his city, a pattern critics say undermines public safety. Those controversies have real political consequences, with voters holding prosecutors accountable at the ballot box. The debate about outcomes versus intentions remains intensely partisan.
There were tangible electoral costs for prosecutors linked to outside funding. Of 25 district attorneys connected to the network who faced voters in 2024, 12 were defeated or recalled. Advocates on both sides point to those results as evidence their approach is winning or failing, depending on the perspective.
Justice & Public Safety PAC continued investing in races after 2024, including a six-figure push in Virginia’s 2025 contest for Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney Ramin Fatehi. Conservatives criticized Fatehi over positions on cash bail, shoplifting prosecutions, and involvement with coalitions targeting federal immigration agents. “The old-fashioned view about public safety was not taking into account externalities. It was focused on the idea of crime as an evil unto itself,” Fatehi said in a 2021 interview. “Where I part ways is in recognizing that crime is a symptom. It’s a symptom of structural racism, of systematic community disinvestment, of redlining, unequal school policy, the lack of jobs, lack of transportation, a lack of opportunities, intergenerational barriers to wealth building, the disinvestment in the treatment of the mentally ill.”
Soros himself has defended support for reform prosecutors as a path to safer communities by addressing underlying issues rather than defaulting to long prison terms. In a 2022 essay he wrote that “black people in the U.S. are five times as likely to be sent to jail as white people,” which is “an injustice that undermines our democracy.” Those lines capture the philosophical core of the effort and why donors view prosecutor races as leverage points.
The family’s political reach extends beyond PACs into nonprofits like the Open Society Foundation, which reported substantial revenue in recent filings. That gives the network multiple channels to back candidates and shape policy discussions leading up to 2026. The Open Society Foundation did not respond to requests for comment.
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