LOS ANGELES – Today, lifetime civil rights activist and labor leader, Dolores Huerta, threw her support behind George Gascón to be LA County’s next District Attorney. DoloresClara Fernández Huerta is an American labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Cesar Chavez, is a co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers.
“I am proud to announce my endorsement of George Gascón for Los Angeles County District Attorney,” said Dolores Huerta. “His successful track record of progressive policies, and ability to simultaneously lower violent crime and protect our communities, proves that George is the champion we need to fundamentally reform LA’s criminal justice system. I am confident that under his leadership the District Attorney’s office will become a powerful ally in this important fight for equity, safety, and justice for all of our communities.”
“This country has been forever changed and inspired by Dolores Huerta,” said former District Attorney and Assistant Chief of the LAPD, George Gascón. “She is a hero to the Latino Community and the working class, and she’s done so much for generations of immigrants who came to this country looking for a better life. I am incredibly honored to have her support.”
###
George Gascón grew up in Los Angeles after his family immigrated from Cuba. An army veteran, Gascón served as a Los Angeles Police Department Officer for 30 years, rising to the rank of Assistant Chief of Operations. In 2006 he became Chief of Police in Mesa, Arizona, where he stood up to the hateful and anti-immigrant policies of then Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. In 2009, then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom appointed Gascón Chief of Police. Newsom turned to Gascón again in 2011 when he tapped him to be District Attorney to fill the seat vacated by an outgoing Kamala Harris who had been elected Attorney General. During his tenure Gascón implemented reforms that are being duplicated across the country while overseeing violent crime and homicides drop to rates not seen in 50 years. After being elected to two terms, Gascón returned to Los Angeles to care for his elderly mother and to be closer to his two daughters and grandchildren in Long Beach. Gascón is married to Fabiola Kramsky, a three-time Emmy Award winning journalist and recipient of the “Premio Nacional de Periodismo,” the highest recognition given to journalists in Mexico.