
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey is facing George Gascon in the November election. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times; Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
The battle to lead the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is one of the most closely watched local races in the nation, seen by many as a referendum on criminal justice reform after a summer of protests against police brutality.
Former San Francisco Dist. Atty. George Gascón has mounted a well-funded challenge to veteran L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey from the left, claiming she has failed to hold police accountable and overseen a regressive, “tough-on-crime” office that’s focused simply on punishing crime rather than reducing it.
Lacey has countered that she has balanced the need for leniency and pretrial diversion against public safety during her eight years in office, something she contends Gascón‘s lack of prosecutorial experience would prevent him from pulling off.