LOS ANGELES – Former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julián Castro, has endorsed George Gascón for Los Angeles District Attorney. In endorsing Gascón, Secretary Castro issued the following statement:
“George Gascón will be a champion for change if elected to District Attorney in Los Angeles,” said Secretary Julián Castro. “George has a consistent and strong record of holding the powerful accountable, and he will be a leader that fights for the important changes Los Angeles needs.”
“More than ever, we need leaders with the political courage and ideas to take on the big issues,” said former District Attorney and Assistant Chief of the LAPD, George Gascón. “I’m grateful for the endorsement of Secretary Julián Castro and to be a People First candidate committed to reforming policing and our criminal justice system. Together, we ensure every American and Los Angeleno can live up to their potential and are treated justly and fairly under the law.”
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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.