When Jackie Lacey sought a second term as Los Angeles’ top prosecutor in 2016, she wound up running unopposed.
The man who ousted her from office, George Gascón, has a much steeper hill to climb to win reelection next year.
During his first term in office, Gascón has frequently been at odds with his own prosecutors and law enforcement, who say his policies aimed at reducing mass incarceration and racially disparate outcomes in the criminal justice system have led to spikes in violence. Data show the violent crime rate is trending down, but some experts have cautioned against making connections between short-term shifts in the crime rate and a prosecutor’s policies.
Gascón’s positions have motivated one of the largest primary fields in the history of the office, with a mix of former federal prosecutors, county judges and deputy district attorneys taking a run at the self-described “godfather of progressive prosecutors” in 2024.
District attorney’s elections have become more competitive across the nation in recent years as reform-minded progressives challenge more traditional prosecutors. Gascón’s 2020 tilt with Lacey saw millions raised in a nationally watched race that drew endorsements from presidential candidates.
Gascón, who announced his own reelection campaign and claimed the endorsement of L.A.’s powerful Federation of Labor last week, still figures to be well-funded and has largely retained the support of the burgeoning L.A. progressive bloc that vaulted him into office in 2020.
But in a sign of the divide in the race, Gascón declined to attend the first debate last week. Hosted by police unions that spent millions against the progressive candidate in 2020, contenders at the forum spent two hours making the case that Gascón is unfit for office and needs to be replaced.
Here are the contenders vying for Gascón’s office next March, listed in the order they announced their candidacy:
