LOS ANGELES – Today, George Gascón’s campaign for Los Angeles District Attorney launched an innovative online field effort in order to prioritize the health and safety of organizers and community members during the Covid-19 global pandemic.
“Our coalition is growing rapidly and we have a responsibility to protect the health and safety of the hundreds of volunteers, activists and faith leaders that are working tirelessly to get our message out,” said former District Attorney and Assistant Chief of the LAPD, George Gascón. “The Fall is synonymous with knocking on doors and field offices overflowing with a flurry of activity, but during this unique moment in our history, campaigns, like everyone, must adapt to promote public health and continue to be effective.”
The official launch of the campaign’s OutreachCircle will equip our over 600 volunteers with an advanced tool that they can use on their desktop or mobile devices to activate their personal networks. OutreachCircle works by checking a volunteer’s existing contacts against the the Los Angeles County voter file, enabling supporters to contact their personal networks to ask them to join #TeamGascón. While field efforts often revolve around knocking on doors of likely voters, research shows voters are 10x more likely to vote when someone they know contacts them. The user friendly website and app allows for all people, regardless of tech abilities, to become part of the campaign and help grow our network of supporters.
As DA in San Francisco Gascón developed a reputation for introducing technology to a field that has largely failed to modernize. He started a national movement when he implemented an algorithm developed by Code For America to proactively clear every marijuana conviction eligible under Proposition 64. He created the Crime Strategies Unit (CSU) which used data to identify and connect offenders responsible for the majority of the city’s crime, leading to some of nation’s largest busts in a single day. He launched the state’s first portal for the public to view prosecutorial metrics and he used artificial intelligence to remove the potential for implicit bias from prosecutors’ charging decisions.
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George Gascón is the Democratic Party’s nominee. He is endorsed by the LA Times, the LA Daily News, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Black Lives Matter cofounder Patrisse Cullors, former Chief of the LAPD Charlie Beck, and many more.
Mr. 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.