The current Los Angeles County District Attorney, Jackie Lacey, was ousted by progressive challenger, George Gascón with over 53% of the vote.

 Gascón is a former police chief and district attorney from San Francisco and has been endorsed by many progressive activist groups including Black Lives Matter Los Angeles

Gascón also had the backing of prominant politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris who’ve embraced his progressive ideas.

Lacey, the first Black woman to be elected to her position in L.A., has often been accused by activists of being too complacent when it comes to police brutality and rape cases. Activists during the height of Black Lives Matter protests gathered at city hall chanting, “Jackie Lacey must go.”

This came after the March Demoratic primaries when Lacey received just shy of half the votes. During that primary, Gascón received just 28%.

However, after the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, things began to change for the district attorney as she faced challenges to her record as a prosecutor.

Former supporters, like Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (CA-28) pulled endorsements, siding with protestors. 

As cries for justice increased across the country, so too did support for Gascón, who promised to address police brutality. He also has promised to curb violent crime and reform L.A. County’s criminal justice system by reducing racial disparities and ending mass incarceration. 

Since being elected on Nov. 3, Gascón has already taken steps to differentiate himself and Lacey despite being from the same political party. 

On Nov. 9, Gascón met with Black Lives Matter leaders and families of those lost to deadly encounters with Los Angeles county’s police officers.

Attendees of the meeting warned Gascón of consequences  if he betrayed his supporters’ trust. 

“The day that you don’t think I’m doing my job I’ll leave and you can find somebody else,” Gascón told them.