George Gascon recall group to deliver petitions to Los Angeles County in effort to trigger election
The George Gascon recall effort is the second since he took office in December 2020 amid a crime wave.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The group seeking to recall Los Angeles County's top prosecutor will turn in hundreds of thousands of signed petitions Wednesday following a months-long effort to let voters decide his political fate.
Volunteers and officials with the Recall George Gascon campaign plan to deliver more than 566,857 petitions in a large truck to the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters in the Los Angeles suburb of Norwalk, the group said Tuesday.
"The sheer magnitude of this effort, and time and investment required to get to this point, show how strong the public desire is to remove George Gascon from office," a recall campaign statement said. "From day one, this recall has been led by the very victims who Gascon has abandoned, ignored, and dismissed. When the recall qualifies, he will not be able to ignore them any longer."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Wednesday marks the deadline for the group to turn in the collected signatures in order to have them counted and verified. The group must have collected signatures from 10% of registered voters across the county in order to trigger a recall election in November.
LOS ANGELES WAREHOUSE GOES UP IN FLAMES
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is facing a recall effort after taking office in 2020. His opponents haver cited a crime wave and his progressive policies for the effort. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images | Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)
The recall group and Gascon's opponents have seized on the effort to paint him as soft on crime amid a crime wave and a series of missteps by his office in recent months.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In his defense, Gascon has characterized the effort as a political power grab that is attempting to "circumvent the democratic process."
In a fundraising message last week, he told his supporters that a successful recall could set his progressive agenda back.
"The Republican-led recall effort in L.A. is on the ‘cusp’ of qualifying for the ballot this November," he said. "And if they’re successful, they will reverse all our progress."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Much of the opposition against Los Angeles County’s top prosecutor stems from his progressive directives that critics have blamed for an uptick in crime and emboldening criminals they say no longer fear robust prosecution by the DA’s office.
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That includes not seeking cash bail, sentencing enhancements or trying juvenile offenders as adults.