Gascón unseats Los Angeles DA Lacey in major progressive win
November 11, 2020
OAKLAND — Progressive challenger George Gascón has toppled incumbent Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey in a victory with outsize national importance.
More than any other district attorney race, the fight to oversee prosecutions in enormous Los Angeles County offered a test of an ascendant movement away from tougher sentencing and incarceration and toward more accountability for peace officers. After earlier progressive wins in San Francisco and Philadelphia, Gascón’s victory bolsters criminal justice reformers who see an increasing path to winning elections without law enforcement support.
While the backing of police and sheriff’s unions has historically been critical in district attorney races, Gascón proved it is no longer indispensable. Law enforcement groups whose counterparts had clashed with Gascón during his tenure as San Francisco district attorney spend heavily to defend Lacey.
But Gascón channeled criminal justice activism that surged this year after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. Prominent Los Angeles Democrats like Mayor Eric Garcetti and Rep. Adam Schiff renounced Lacey and instead swung behind Gascón, who also drew the support of Sen. Kamala Harris and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Repercussions of his win immediately manifested as Gascón pledged at a victory conference to stop prosecuting children as adults and to no longer seek the death penalty. Gascón's campaign emphasized Lacey's support for capital punishment, noting that death row is disproportionately populated by minorities. Gascón campaigned on reopening investigations into police officers and pledged to follow through.
“We are going to look at some cases of police accountability,” he said, arguing that "our communities are expecting law enforcement accountability."
The victory serves as a marker for how attitudes have changed in Los Angeles. The nation's most populous county has been known for its law enforcement dominance and for brutality incidents involving Black residents.
Wealthy individuals poured money into Gascón’s campaign, which also drew support from a preexisting, George Soros-backed network the Democratic megafunder has set up to nurture progressive prosecutor candidates around the country.
Activists in Los Angeles were heavily focused on the race, holding regular rallies urging Lacey's ouster. They were further galvanized when Lacey's husband brandished a gun at protesters who had gathered outside Lacey's home.
The win also added to gains for criminal justice reform advocates around the California ballot. Voters decisively repudiated a law-enforcement championed measure to impose tougher sentences and more prison releases. Assemblymember Reggie-Jones Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) has a huge lead despite a deluge of law enforcement spending for his opponent, Democrat Efren Martinez.
Only in one instance — keeping cash bail — did statewide voters side with law enforcement, though some progressives also asserted Proposition 25's replacement of cash bail was flawed enough to reject.
Source: https://www.politico.com/
