What L.A. County voters need to hear from D.A. George Gascón before November

By The L.A. Times Editorial Board

To put the best face on Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s poor showing in Tuesday’s election, he’s where he wanted and expected to be. Ballots are still being counted, but first-day returns show him with just over 20% of the vote and headed into a November showdown with former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman.

Hochman was soundly defeated for state attorney general two years ago when he challenged incumbent Rob Bonta. In that partisan race, Hochman ran as a Republican. He’s now independent, but even ex-Republican candidates in nonpartisan races have an uphill battle in liberal Los Angeles County. In November, many of the younger, more progressive voters who didn’t turn out this week are, history suggests, more likely to show up.

But Gascón should also know that reelection will be no easy walk, even if he is a Democrat, as his campaign materials note. 

The primary results illustrate that Los Angeles voters are deeply worried about crime, even though violent crime is down sharply after the nationwide spike during the pandemic. Property crime gets a lot of attention, but in fact it has mostly held steady over the last few years — with the troubling exception of shoplifting and thefts of personal property from publicly accessible places, such as packages from front porches.

Gascón should heed the obvious parallels to Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s loss in 2022. Villanueva came in first in his primary, but with only 30% of the vote — a very poor showing for an incumbent. He was crushed by Robert Luna in the runoff. Gascón also came in first, but with an even smaller percentage.

Read more at: LA Times