LA DA Jackie Lacey concedes to George Gascon

LOS ANGELES — An emotional Jackie Lacey fought back tears as she conceded the Los Angeles district attorney’s race to challenger George Gascon during a speech at the Hall of Justice on Friday.

“I congratulate George Gascon and his team on their expected victory,” Lacey said. “There are still about 791,000 votes to count but my consultants tell me that while I may close the gap between the two of us, I will not be able to make up enough based on the trending of the ballots to win this election.”

“I am so thankful to God for giving me this incredible opportunity to serve the people of Los Angeles County,” she said.

Gascon, who ran on a message of reform, gave a victory speech streamed via Facebook hours after Lacey’s. While he thanked Lacey for her years of service, Gascon vowed to deliver on campaign promises and change many of the current policies governing the criminal justice system in the county.

“I stand here today to declare victory,” Gascon began. “When I entered this race, this movement for reforms, and this campaign were considered by many to be a long shot in the largest county in the nation, against a two-term incumbent DA. But we’re here, we did it, and I stand before you committed to making lasting changes that will make our communities safer, healthier, and that will restore the promise of equal justice for all.”

Lacey, who was elected in 2012 as the first woman and first Black district attorney for the county, highlighted in her speech the tripling of convictions of sex traffickers, and her creation of the complex child abuse unit and sex crimes task force. She also highlighted her dismissal of 66,000 cannabis convictions, her efforts to work with state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, to end cash bail by passing Senate Bill 10, and her efforts to reduce the jail population by 6,000 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, she faced “a tsunami of money,” she said, stating the Gascon campaign outspent hers by “an unprecedented $5 million,” she said.

Her speech marked the end of a bitter DA race between two Democratic candidates who have largely criticized one another over who is funding their campaigns. Gascon, the former San Francisco DA, received $1.5 million from New York billionaire George Soros while Lacey received $1 million from two law enforcement groups.

The race became one of the most closely watched in the nation, serving as a centerpiece for the national discourse around police accountability, incarceration and what it means to be a progressive prosecutor.

After Lacey failed to win a 50.1% majority vote over Gascon and a third candidate, public defender Rachel A. Rossi, in March, a runoff was triggered. A

A prominent Lacey supporter, Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, issued a statement Friday expressing her union’s commitment to ensuring a seamless transition to Gascon’s administration.

“We are also committed to ensuring that every single deputy district attorney, whether they are members of our association or not, enjoys the robust civil service protections to which they are entitled and the rights and benefits for which we have bargained,” Hanisee said.

Leading the largest local prosecutorial office in the country, with a workforce of approximately 1,000 lawyers, 300 investigators and 800 support staff, Gascon will have a great amount of influence over the prosecutorial culture throughout the nation.