LOS ANGELES – Today, George Gascón’s campaign for Los Angeles District Attorney is proud to announce that SEIU United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) has endorsed Gascón’s campaign for District Attorney. SEIU-UHW is a union committed to racial justice that represents more than 97,000 healthcare workers, patients, and healthcare consumers across the state.
“SEIU United Healthcare Workers West is proud to join the Los Angeles Democratic Party, US Senators Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren Los Angeles Times and LA Daily News in endorsing George Gascón for Los Angeles District Attorney,” said Elissa Underwood, SEIU-UHW Executive Board Member and Lead Laboratory Assistant at Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center. “We are seeing first hand the consequences of a broken justice system during the COVID-19 Pandemic with our health care workers on the frontlines. George has spent his career making sure our justice system works for everyone, not just the wealthy and well connected, and he will continue to champion progressive reforms to make Los Angeles safer, healthier, and more just for all of us.”
“As an LA native, a former union member, and at a time where a global pandemic has made our community more reliant on healthcare workers than ever, having their support means a great deal to me,” said former San Francisco District Attorney and Assistant Chief of the LAPD, George Gascón. “UHW members are on the front-lines of the global pandemic and our County’s behavioral health crisis, and I look forward to working with them to enhance coordination between law enforcement and public health, deliver a coordinated system of care, and make LA a safer and healthier place to live and work.”
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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.