How L.A.'s progressive 'godfather' wound up struggling to keep his job as D.A.

In 2020, Gascón’s idiosyncratic public presence mattered little compared with his vision for the district attorney’s office. Preaching criminal justice reform and police accountability in the months following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Gascón received millions in contributions from liberal megadonors and endorsements from heavyweight Democrats such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Four years later, that support has evaporated.

Gascón is trailing his challenger, former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, by as many as 30 points in recent polls. The big name politicians who once backed Gascón are gone and most of his donors have vanished, with Hochman out-fundraising and outspending the incumbent 11 to 1.

Gascón won office at a time when the public was crying out for criminal justice reform. He now faces an electorate concerned about public safety even with crime trending down by some metrics.




https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-10-24/george-gascon-los-angeles-district-attorney-race