Thursday night’s Los Angeles County District Attorney debate, while ostensibly an opportunity for candidates to present their platform, quickly became a competition to land the sharpest jab at current D.A. George Gascón .
Nine of the 11 challengers running for office attended the debate and held no punches while expressing their dissatisfaction with the incumbent, whose progressive criminal justice reform policies have made him a polarizing figure in L.A. County politics.
The incumbent faced attacks on everything from his leadership style, to his refusal to prosecute certain misdemeanors, his elimination of cash bail for many crimes, his defense of Prop. 47 and his relationship with law enforcement.
Gascón vigorously defended himself against the many attacks lobbed his way over the course of Thursday evening’s debate hosted by Los Angeles magazine. He pointed to decreases in incarceration and violent crime rates, while touting the benefits of his “more humane” approach to prosecution.
Although many of the candidates blamed Gascón for a “crime wave”, the crime statistics paint a more complicated story.
Violent crime spiked in Los Angeles during the pandemic, as it did across the nation, but has since decreased significantly.
In the city of L.A., rape and homicide were both down about 18% last year compared to 2021, Gascon’s first full year in office.
Property crime in the city, however, is up. Reports of theft dramatically rose about 40% last year compared to 2021 and burglaries spiked by about 15%.
Eight of the debate attendees are running on tougher-on-crime platforms compared to Gascón’s. They are Jonathan Hatami, Nathan Hochman, David Milton, John McKinney, Craig Mitchell, Maria Ramirez, Eric Siddall and Debra Archuleta. Jeff Chemerinsky was the sole progressive challenger in attendance, but nevertheless a sharp critic of Gascón. Candidates Llyod Masson and Dan Kapelovitz did not attend the debate.
The primary election is on…
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