The petition to recall the controversial district attorney of Los Angeles, George Gascón, has failed.
Gascón, who was elected to office in November 2020, has faced his second recall effort in as many years. However, both attempts have failed to garner the minimum number of valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
According to state law, a recall campaign must gather a total number of signatures which reflects at least 10% of the number of people eligible to vote when the candidate was first elected. In November 2020, there were more than 5.6 million eligible voters in LA County, meaning that the campaign needed to collect 566,857 valid signatures by mid-July.
Though the recall campaign submitted over 715,000 signatures, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan has now officially reported that the campaign has failed.
"Based on the examination and verification, which conducted in compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the California Government Code, Elections Code, and Code of Regulations, 520,050 signatures were found to be valid and 195,783 were found to be invalid," Logan’s office said in a press release.
Of the invalidated signatures, 88,000 of them were unregistered, more than 43,000 were duplicates, more than 37,000 had an issue with the listed address, nearly 9,500 had a mismatched signature, and more than 7,300 were canceled for reasons unknown, according to Fox News.
Gascón also faced a recall measure last year, which failed largely because of limited funds and disorganization, according to the LA Times.
Though Gascón seems to have survived this latest attempt to oust him before his four-year term has been completed, he remains one of the most controversial district attorneys in the country. He has been viewed as soft on crime, seeking light sentences for violent offenders, some of whom have since offended again.
Chesa Boudin, the former district attorney in San Francisco, faced similar criticism before his ouster in early June.
Gascón is the former district attorney and police chief of San Francisco. His campaign for district attorney of LA was largely funded by billionaire leftwing financier, George Soros.
A vote of Los Angeles prosecutors found an astounding 97.8% supported the recall of their boss, District Attorney George Gascón.
The results of the vote were released Tuesday by the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys.
"It's been one year of Gascon's social experiment," said LAADDA vice president Eric Siddall to Fox News Digital. "I think after that one year, people have had time to evaluate whether this is working or not working. I think most people who actually live in Los Angeles [and] understand what's going on in Los Angeles, including the political leadership here in LA, feel that this has been a miserable failure."
Siddall said the vote was taken from members of the organization to more accurately gauge their support for the recall.
"We decided that because we thought we'd rather not have several members of the board of directors make this call and that it should be a decision that every line prosecutor makes collectively."
The LAADDA said that an unprecedented 83.3% of their members participated in the vote. The organization has also filed two lawsuits against Gascón's policies for violating California law.
Gascón dismissed the recall effort in a statement released in January.
"Los Angeles voters are far more interested in actually enhancing community safety for families, victims and all those living in L.A. County than they are in yet another politically motivated recall attempt, especially after L.A. County voted 70.8% against the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom just a few months ago."
Organizers of the recall campaign need to collect petition signatures from 10% of the voters of Los Angeles County by July 6 in order to put the recall on the ballot.
The website for the recall accused him of instituting "a series of directives to the prosecutors in his command that have nothing to do with a progressive approach to prosecution and have everything to do with a radical agenda that ignores victims, disregards the law and endangers the lives and livelihoods of all Angelenos."
Gascón's campaign was financially supported by left-wing billionaire George Soros who donated $2 million in order to support weakening penalties for criminal behavior.
Gascón To Face Second Recall Effortwww.youtube.com
George Gascón, the Soros-backed Los Angeles district attorney, is facing scrutiny over his extremely progressive criminal justice reforms and the recent hiring of a new prosecutor who has exhibited anti-police sentiments.
It was revealed last week that Gascón hired Tiffiny Blacknell, a controversial public defender who has a history of expressing anti-police beliefs.
"I've confirmed D.A. George Gascon has hired public defender Tiffiny Blacknell to his administration as a Grade 4 prosecutor," KTTV-TV investigative reporter Bill Melugin wrote on Twitter. "Blacknell served on Gascon's policy committee during his campaign. She has called LAPD "barbarians" and says "prisons should be abolished."
Melugin included a photo of Blacknell wearing a t-shirt that read: "THE POLICE ARE TRAINED TO KILL US." He also included screenshots of Blacknell calling LAPD officers "barbarians," and another of her tweets that declares, "Prison is obsolete. We need to reimagine America without it."
THREAD: I've confirmed D.A. George Gascon has hired public defender Tiffiny Blacknell to his administration as a Gr… https://t.co/wzTouGQTwK— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin)1614225718.0
Blacknell was criticized in 2020 after she allegedly helped negotiate a "sweetheart deal" with a suspected gang murderer. Blacknell reportedly went behind the backs of the victim's family and the prosecutor. The deal was ultimately withdrawn.
Cindy Wallace, who has been a prosecutor in the DA's office for almost 13 years, told KTTV, "It's really unfortunate. I think it's unfair. It seems like she was given some sort of preferential treatment for helping George Gascón's election, being on the transition team, it's nepotistic a bit."
Eric Siddall, the vice president of the union representing prosecutors in the L.A. County DA's Office, said she doesn't have enough experience. "This is really about political cronyism rather than someone who actually meets the qualification standards of a Grade 4 position," Siddall alleged.
As a Grade 4 prosecutor, Blacknell will purportedly be making up to $15,000 per month. The reported Twitter account of Blackwell has since gone private and her tweets are protected.
As a Grade 4, Blacknell will be making up to $15,000 per month. According to department policy, the job requires 2… https://t.co/fQb8BrrpwQ— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin)1614225814.0
Gascón, whose campaign received over $2 million from leftist billionaire George Soros, is dealing with his own problems — he is facing a recall effort.
On Saturday, organizers held a "victims vigil" outside Gascón's office in downtown Los Angeles. Organizers expected 100 people to attend the rally, where they planned to get 20 signatures from Los Angeles County residents, which is the necessary amount needed to file an intent to recall.
"The recall effort needs valid signatures from at least 10 percent of registered voters in the county, or just under 600,000 people, to qualify for the ballot, according to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk office," NBC News reported. "Elected officials must be in office for at least 90 days before a recall effort can be officially launched. Gascón was sworn in on Dec. 7."
The day he took office in December, Gascón announced sweeping criminal reform policy changes, including "an end to cash bail, a ban on prosecutors seeking enhanced prison sentences, and showing leniency to many low-level offenders," according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Recall George Gascón website states:
He promised a softer and gentler criminal justice system that would reduce incarceration rates for minor offenders and place increased focus on mental health and addiction issues that plague our communities. But the moment he was sworn in as District Attorney, George Gascon instituted a series of directives to the prosecutors in his command that have nothing to do with a progressive approach to prosecution and have everything to do with a radical agenda that ignores victims, disregards the law and endangers the lives and livelihoods of all Angelenos.
The recall effort against Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom already has the necessary signatures ahead of the March 17 deadline.
Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell teased during his CPAC speech that he may run for governor of California if Newsom is recalled.
The campaign to recall Gascon is suing the L.A. County registrar after a review showed 39 percent of signatures were likely wrongly rejected.
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