One of the nation’s most progressive district attorneys is facing almost a dozen challengers in his Tuesday bid for re-election.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón is facing 11 opponents in the nonpartisan primary, including prosecutors from his own office seeking to replace him.
Local prosecutors Jonathan Hatami and Eric Siddall have thrown their hats into the ring against Gascón, as well as former federal prosecutors Jeff Chemerinsky and Nathan Hochman.
A candidate must receive 50% of the vote or more to win the primary outright – an unlikely outcome with 11 individuals up for consideration. Without a clear victory, the election will go to a runoff in November between the top two candidates.
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Gascón is facing criticism from all sides with accusations of disregard for public safety and an unwillingness to crack down on rampant crime.
Critics point to state laws, local ordinances and law enforcement’s alleged unwillingness to follow through on cases as key obstacles to restoring law and order in the city.
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Due to Proposition 57, approved by the voters of California in 2016, every minor convicted in adult court must receive an additional transfer hearing in juvenile court to determine if the individual should be tried as an adult.
In many cases, however, Gascón’s office chose not to participate in transfer hearings and the inmate would be released.
Last year, zero-dollar bail guidelines took effect in Los Angeles County and allowed suspected offenders to be freely released for a range of crimes, including some types of theft, assaults and vandalism, among other offenses.
Los Angeles County faces an uptick in brazen smash-and-grab crimes impacting retailers amid criticism that these allegedly soft-on-crime policies are to blame for the region’s crime woes.
Prior to his role as district attorney, Gascón served as the district attorney of San Francisco and the chief of the San Francisco Police Department.
As a former police officer, he also served as the LAPD assistant chief and the chief of police in Mesa, California.
Fox News’ Nikolas Lanum and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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