Recall of LA County DA Fails to Qualify for Ballot

Facts

• A petition to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has failed after organizers came around 50k signatures short of the 570k needed to make the Nov. ballot.¹
• Nearly 200k submitted signatures were disqualified, with more than 88k belonging to people not registered to vote, and another 75k were reportedly duplicates or had a different address than the signees' voter registration.¹
• Gascón was elected in Nov. 2020, and vowed to institute criminal justice reform, including the limitation of juveniles tried as adults and a ban on seeking the death penalty.²
• With crime on the rise, critics have accused Gascón of being soft on crime, and even prosecutors in his own office have supported the recall.³
• The Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA) sued Gascón in 2020 over his attempt to dismiss enhancements against someone accused of murdering an LA County deputy. The judge found he had violated the state's "Three Strikes" law.²
• The failed recall of Gascón comes in the aftermath of San Francisco successfully voting to recall its DA, Chesa Boudin, who held similar beliefs about criminal justice reform.⁴

Sources: ¹NBC, ²Daily Caller, ³FOX News and ⁴CNN.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Politico. Despite objections from Gascón’s loud opponents, his agenda and approach to keeping citizens safe while ensuring all are treated equally by the justice system remain popular. With this attempted power grab over with, the DA can go back to reforming LA’s criminal justice system.
• Right narrative, as provided by New York Post. Gascón’s woke policies have turned Los Angeles into a danger zone, which is why more than half a million voters want the chance to oust him. Los Angeles residents shouldn’t be put at risk due to an incompetent politician, they should be given the chance to elect someone who will fight to protect them.
• Cynical narrative, as provided by The New York Times. Neither side should be claiming victory. Boudin’s ouster in San Francisco proves some want officials to be tougher on crime, but the failure to recall Gascón shows there’s an appetite for criminal justice reform. It’s a fine line to walk, and politicians on both sides should tread lightly when determining which way to lean.