Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey has lost her reelection bid to challenger George Gascón, a reform candidate who promised compassionate leadership at the nation’s largest municipal prosecutor’s office.
Lacey, 63, conceded the race Friday, according to The Los Angeles Times.
After failing to garner more than two-thirds of the remaining tally to be reelected, Lacey delivered a concession speech at the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles, the Times reported.
Gascón’s victory is being seen as a major win in the movement to elect progressive district attorneys, according to the Times, adding that Gascón is a known champion of alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent and mentally ill defendants.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Lacey’s eight-year tenure may have come to an end in part because of the anti-law enforcement sentiments the swept the nation in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.
More than 500 fatal police shootings were reported under Lacey’s watch since she was first elected in 2012. Reports say she has declined to bring charges in most if not all of the cases.
Police brutality became a critical focus of the race. During the primary election in March, Lacey finished far ahead of Gascón and former public defender Rachel Rossi.
But after Floyd’s death, Gascón found momentum amid protests calling for changes to the criminal justice system.
Gascón also presented a strong challenge to Lacey based on his credentials.
The 66-year-old is the former San Francisco district attorney and assistant chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. He grabbed an early lead on Election Night and remained comfortably ahead of the incumbent, even as she finally threw in the towel Friday.
In March, Lacey sidestepped a major controversy in which her husband, David, briefly held a group of Black Lives Matter protesters at gunpoint outside the couple’s home, according to video of the incident that went viral on social media.
»FROM MARCH: LA district attorney headed to victory days after protesters held at gunpoint
The situation started on the eve of the primary election, when about 30 protesters arrived at Lacey’s home in Grenada Hills before dawn with banners, signs, bullhorns and chairs, and called for Lacey to come outside for a face-to-face meeting to address her reluctance to prosecute high-profile suspects and police officers involved in deadly shootings.
That’s when a man emerged with a gun from inside the front door of the residence.
With a hotly contested election hours away, Lacey was forced to hold a news conference later in the day and apologized, saying she and her husband were awakened and frightened by the demonstrators.
“His response was in fear, and now that he realizes what happened, he wanted me to say to the protesters, the person that he showed the gun to, that he was sorry, that he was profoundly sorry,” Lacey said, according to The Associated Press.
The protesters later dismissed Lacey’s apology, saying the group felt “traumatized” after David Lacey pointed his gun “inches” from them, according to the AP.
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