LA DA Candidate Profile: George Gascón​ In His Own Words

LOS ANGELES, CA — George Gascón, the former San Francisco District Attorney and 30-year LAPD officer, nabbed a key endorsement from a Black Lives Matter co-founder, helping to put him in a pitched battle to unseat District Attorney Jackie Lacey.

Gascón has positioned himself as a reform candidate, and the race has gained national attention as a major test of the progressive movement's clout.

Gascón shared with Patch his vision for the county and the experiences that shaped his vision.

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Age (as of Election Day): 66

Town/City of Residence: Long Beach, CA

Office Sought: Los Angeles District Attorney

Party affiliation: Democratic Party

Family: Fabiola Kramsky, spouse

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No

Education: B.A. History, California State University Long Beach; J.D Western State University, College of Law

Occupation: San Francisco District Attorney (9 years); San Francisco Police Chief (2 years); Police Chief of Mesa Arizona (3 years); LAPD Officer and Assistant Police Chief (28 years)

Campaign website: georgegascon.org

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: San Francisco District Attorney

The single most pressing issue facing our community is: Los Angeles deserves a new District Attorney who will make our neighborhoods safer, hold police accountable to the communities they serve, and reform our justice system so it works for everyone.

And this is what I intend to do about it: I have reduced violent crime in every leadership position I've held while pioneering reforms to reduce racial disparities and end mass incarceration.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

While I’ve been involved with, either by drafting or supporting, nearly every criminal justice reform measure in the past decade, my opponent has opposed every criminal justice reform measure in the past decade. Though my opponent sends people to prison at 4x the rate I did as San Francisco DA, crime has gone up nearly 30% under my opponent, while declining during my tenure. Furthermore, I treat kids like kids. My restorative justice programs for youth in San Francisco are even being duplicated across the county because kids re-offended at ¼ the rate of the traditional justice system. My opponent prosecutes kids at alarming rates, even those as young as 14. Locking up kids has never been shown to increase community safety, but is correlated with higher rates of recidivism and trauma. I also am opposed to the death penalty because it does not deter crime, costs $300 million per execution, and runs the risk of putting an innocent person to death. Since 2012 my opponent has sent more people to death row than Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia combined, all of whom were people of color.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community: While benefiting from millions of dollars in spending by police unions, Jackie Lacey has failed to hold police accountable in egregious cases of police use of force, including multiple cases where public documents show Lacey categorically ignored basic and elemental physical evidence that directly contradicts the statements from police that she relied upon in declining to prosecute. More than 500 people have been killed by police since my opponent took office. Yet charges have been filed against police just one time. Additionally, my challenger prosecutes low-level offenders experiencing homelessness or mental illness at alarming rates, rendering the LA County Jail the largest mental health institution in the world. My challenger routinely fails to listen to the community, regularly declining to attend community town halls or other civic events.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform: As a leader of the criminal justice reform movement, my platform is built on protecting and serving victims, increasing transparency in the DA’s office, holding police accountable, and working to implement innovative evidence-based programs that work to reimagine criminal justice in the largest county in America.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I have lowered violent crime in every leadership position I’ve held while pioneering reforms to reduce racial disparities and end mass incarceration. Starting my career as an LAPD beat cop and rising through the ranks to become Assistant Police Chief, I saw firsthand the failed policies of mass incarceration and over-policing. In becoming Police Chief in Mesa, Arizona, I went toe-to-toe against the infamous racist Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, and fought to protect immigrant communities. As San Francisco Police Chief, I oversaw a historic decline in violent crime and then as San Francisco District Attorney, I showed that I could lower incarceration rates while overseeing a decline in violent crime. Criminal justice reform makes us safer.

If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office as a success?

I will reduce crime while simultaneously reducing incarceration, as I’ve done before. I will hold police accountable, and I will restore public trust in law enforcement.

Why should voters trust you?

Voters don’t need to take my word for it--I encourage all voters to investigate my record. Past performance is the best indicator of future performance. I am endorsed by the LA Times and the LA Daily News, Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris, U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Governor Gavin Newsom, Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, labor leader and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta, and former Chief of the LAPD Charlie Beck, among many others.

What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the use of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

Though the DA’s office budget is hundreds of millions of dollars, the office actually costs taxpayers billions of dollars in terms of incarceration and court expenses. In fact, California spends around $80,000 per year to lock up one person, while spending just $10,000 per k-12 student. This is unacceptable. By lowering incarceration rates, taxpayer dollars can be better spent on supporting our communities which will lower crime rates and strengthen our county.

Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

No

The best advice ever shared with me was...: Stand up for the people and causes you believe in, even if it comes at great personal cost.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

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.

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