JACKIE LACEY MISSES 8 OUT OF 9 OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE WITH THE PUBLIC WHILE GASCÓN RACKS UP BROAD COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Since Gascón’s Entrance into the Race, DA Lacey has Skipped Nearly Every Community Event and her Campaign Has Announced Few New Endorsements
LOS ANGELES – With one week until Election Day, #TeamGascón offers an overview of the campaign’s progress and how it contrasts with that of Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey.
“I’m incredibly inspired by the community’s commitment to reform, and I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished in such a short period of time,” said former District Attorney and Assistant Chief of the LAPD, George Gascón. “We have just one week to go and it’s time to get out the vote, and I encourage everyone to make sure their voice is heard on or before March 3rd. Please vote!”
Gascón entered the race on October 28, 2019, leading two candidates–both of whom were Deputy D.A.’s–to withdraw from the race to consolidate support for a progressive and endorse his candidacy. Since Gascón declared, District Attorney Jackie Lacey’s endorsements have all but dried up, with mailers distributed by her campaign including endorsements received exclusively prior to Gascón’s having joined the field. Her most notable endorsement since Gascón’s entrance arguably came from San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who finds herself in the middle of a federal corruption probe involving her Head of Public Works. Mayor Breed recently admitted to having failed to report gifts from her subordinate, a clear violation of city ethics rules, drawing parallels to DA Lacey, who, “has accepted more than $10,000 worth of gifts … from criminal defense attorneys, police unions, business owners, prosecutors in her office and others who could have an interest in influencing her decisions.” [Emphasis added].
DA Jackie Lacey has also skipped 8 of 9 opportunities to engage with the other candidates and the community. The events DA Lacey declined to participate in include:
- LA Coalition for District Attorney Justice & Accountability candidate forum held at CA African American Museum on 12/11/2019
- Alpha Gamma Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Candidate Forum held at Alpha Gamma Omega Sorority on 1/23/2020
- Anti-Recidivism Coalition candidate forum held at Lancaster California State Prison, Los Angeles County on 1/31/2020
- AV Empowerment Society/ACLU Palmdale candidate forum held at Transplants Brewing Company on 2/9/2020
- League of Women Voters Pasadena and ACLU Pasadena Foothills Candidate forum held at Orange Grove Friends Meeting House on 2/10/2020
- UCLA Science Policy Group candidate forum held at UCLA on 2/12/2020
- League of Women Voters/National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) candidate forum held at NCJW on 2/13/2020
- League of Women Voters/LA Valley College candidate forum held at LA Valley College on 2/20/2020
Lacey’s campaign claimed that her reasoning for not attending the event on February 13 (#7 above) was due to a conflict of interest on the part of event organizers. The decision drew criticism from the LA Times who called it a, “winding, connect-the-dots style conflict of interest.” Even after organizers cured the purported conflict, DA Lacey still skipped the event.
By contrast, during this time, George Gascón has met with the community on a daily basis, debated the other candidates, out-raised DA Lacey, and built a broad community coalition. Gascón earned the following endorsements in just four months:
ORGANIZATIONS
Los Angeles County Democratic Party
California Democratic Party
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Daily News
La Opinión
Pasadena Star News
Long Beach Press-Telegram
The Malibu Times
Whittier Daily News
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Torrance Daily Breeze
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
National Union of Healthcare Workers
Painters and Allied Trades, District Council 36
SEIU-United Service Workers West
SEIU Local 99
CHIRLA Action Fund
Real Justice PAC
Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters
Armenian National Committee of America Western Region
Color of Change PAC
Generation Blue Fund PAC
Mexican American Bar Association PAC
West Hollywood Beverly Hills Democratic Club
Democratic Party of San Fernando Valley
Stonewall Democratic Club
Democratic Women’s Study Club Long Beach
Los Angeles County Young Democrats
North Valley Democrats
Democratic Alliance for Action
Downey Democrats
Americans for Democratic Action of Southern California
USC College Democrats
Pacific Palisades Democratic Club
Progressive Democrats of the Santa Monica Mountains
Culver City Democratic Club
Muslim Democratic Club of Southern California
Santa Monica Democratic Club
Democrats for Israel Los Angeles
West LA Democratic Club
Black Women’s Democratic Club
Democrats for Neighborhood Action
PEOPLE
Kamala Harris, United States Senator
Maxine Waters, Congressmember
Tony Cárdenas, Congressmember
Mike Bonin, L.A. City Councilmember
Lindsey P. Horvath, West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tempore
Rob Bonta, Assemblymember
Phil Ting, Assemblymember
John Legend
Jackie Goldberg, LAUSD Board Member
Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights Leader
Salvador Melendez, Montebello Mayor
Gustavo Camacho, Pico Rivera Mayor
Eddie De La Riva, City of Maywood Mayor
Aide Castro, Lynwood Mayor
Alejandra Cortez, Bell Gardens Mayor
Jose R. Gonzalez, City of Cudahy Vice Mayor
Dario Castellano, West Covina City Councilmember
Charlie Beck, Former Los Angeles Police Chief
Joseph Iniguez, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney
Matt Johnson, Former President of The Los Angeles Police Commission
Anthony Pacheco, Former President of The Los Angeles Police Commission
Pastor Eddie Anderson, McCarty Memorial Christian Church
Merrick Bobb, Founder of The Police Assessment Resource Center
Susan Burton, A New Way of Life Reentry Project Founder
Franky Carrillo, Criminal Justice Advocate
Timothy Kornegay, Justice Transformation Organizer, LA Voice
Matt Haney, San Francisco Supervisor
Hilary Ronen, San Francisco Supervisor
David Campos, San Francisco Democratic Party Chair
Chesa Boudin, San Francisco District Attorney
John Chisholm, Milwaukee County District Attorney
Satana Deberry, Durham County District Attorney
Mark Gonzalez, Nueces County District Attorney
Larry Krasner, Philadelphia District Attorney
Marilyn Mosby, State’s Attorney For Baltimore
Karl Racine, Attorney General For The District of Columbia
Rachael Rollins, Suffolk County District Attorney
Mark Leno, Former State Senator
Jack Weiss, Former LA City Councilmember
Robert Shapiro, Attorney
Mattie Scott, Gun Violence Survivor and Activist
With Election Day just seven days out, Mr. Gascón, his wife Fabiola, and #TeamGascón want to thank the community for their continued support, and we’d like to take a moment to remind everyone to wield the awesome power of democracy by voting on or before March 3rd.
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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.
For more information about George Gascón go to www.GeorgeGascon.org.