Barring a last-second miracle, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon will lose his reelection bid and be knocked out by former federal prosecutor Nate Hochman next month. Hochman is leading Gascon by 30 points in the latest polls.
Perhaps it is too early to celebrate Gascon’s loss, but the incumbent’s deep unpopularity and the widespread rejection of his soft-on-crime policies should serve as a warning not to trust the leading lights of the Democratic Party on crime, most importantly not Vice President Kamala Harris.
Months before George Floyd’s death prompted a general lurch left on law enforcement in 2020, Harris glowingly endorsed Gascon’s 2020 campaign. “George Gascon is a proven leader of national significance when it comes to reforming our criminal justice system,” Harris said in a February 2020 statement. “As DA of San Francisco, George led fights to reform the Three Strikes Law, decrease the state prison population and get people convicted of nonviolent offenses greater opportunities to get their lives back on track.”
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