Even George Soros appears to be done with Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.
The billionaire Democratic donor who helped sweep Mr. Gascón into office in 2020 is nowhere to be found as the soft-on-crime prosecutor seeks a second term in November, refusing so far to come to the rescue even as the candidate lurches toward defeat.
The Soros-funded California Justice and Public Safety PAC has spent exactly zero on Mr. Gascón’s reelection bid, according to the latest campaign finance filings, even though a poll released earlier this month found the incumbent trailing challenger Nate Hochman by a whopping 30 percentage points.
“I’ve heard that Soros has not played big at all in this race, and I think if that’s true, it’s probably because he doesn’t want to support somebody who’s going down in flames,” Cully Stimson, Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow, told The Washington Times.
It’s a far cry from 2020, when Mr. Gascón waged a come-from-behind victory against then-District Attorney Jackie Lacey, buoyed by the endorsement of Black Lives Matter and $4.6 million from the Soros-financed PAC in the final two months.
Soros spokesperson Michael Vachon denied that the mega-donor has abandoned Mr. Gascón, saying that “Mr. Soros’ focus this cycle is on national elections, particularly the presidential contest.”
“This reflects the unprecedented stakes facing the nation and should not be misconstrued as an abandonment of Gascón or other local leaders who are implementing effective and humane approaches to public safety,” said Mr. Vachon in an email. “Los Angeles County District Attorney Gascón has George Soros’ endorsement.”
That endorsement alone is unlikely to prevent Mr. Gascón from becoming the latest so-called “Soros DA” to be ushered from office, his slide coming as voters turn on his anti-punishment policies amid rising flash-mob robberies, carjackings, organized retail theft and homelessness.
“Gascón was elected at a very unique moment, shortly after George Floyd’s death, when voters here were especially focused on issues of criminal justice reform,” said Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist who now teaches at the University of California Berkeley.
Mr. Gascón’s efforts to reform the system include implementing a zero-bail policy; declining to try juveniles as adults, no matter how heinous the crime; refusing to seek the death penalty; dismissing marijuana cases; banning sentencing enhancements, and resentencing long-serving convicts, in some cases resulting in their release.
Times change, however, and Mr. Gascón did not.
“Over the last four years, even deep blue California has undergone somewhat of a course correction and is now focusing more on traditional forms of law enforcement against criminals,” Mr. Schnur said. “But Gascón has not adjusted, and he is paying the price.”
Mr. Gascón, 70, isn’t the only one caught in the public-safety blowback. Polls show strong support for Proposition 36, a tough-on-crime state measure that would reverse Proposition 47, the 2014 initiative that reclassified thefts under $950 from felonies to misdemeanors.
Proposition 47 was co-authored by Mr. Gascón during his tenure as San Francisco district attorney, before his move to Los Angeles.
The candidate’s fall from grace comes as the latest hit to Mr. Soros’ decade-long effort to rework the criminal-justice system by installing defendant friendly prosecutors, often former defense attorneys, in the name of prioritizing social justice over punishment.
Other marquee prosecutors previously shown the door include San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who was recalled; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who lost her primary and was later convicted of perjury, and St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who resigned under pressure.
“They’re losing some of their darlings that were the face of the movement,” said Mr. Stimson, co-author of “Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers Are Destroying America’s Communities” (Bombardier, 2023). “The only two big names that are still around, and who are arguably the worst of the worst, are Gascón and Larry Krasner in Philadelphia.”
Despite the public’s shift in priorities, the Democrat Gascón has stuck to his agenda, touting his aggressive charging of hate crimes and police in officer-involved shootings, as well as his 14 exonerations of “wrongly incarcerated” people and removal of 36 inmates from Death Row.
“As Los Angeles District Attorney, I will make our neighborhoods safer, hold police accountable to the communities they serve, and reform our justice system so it works for everyone,” said Mr. Gascón in a campaign statement.
He has argued that his office prosecutes violent crime at the same rate as his predecessor and 92% of cases of organized retail theft, while Mr. Hochman counters that police have largely given up on the prosecutor’s office.
“Police aren’t bringing in the cases because they know upfront that the DA’s blanket policy is not to prosecute,” said Mr. Hochman, 60, a former federal prosecutor and ex-Republican now running as an Independent.
“He [Gascón] has lost the trust of his own prosecutors, law enforcement, victims and the public,” said Mr. Hochman at the Oct. 8 debate hosted by Fox11 in Los Angeles.
Certainly the prosecutor’s tenure has been marked with strife, including multiple lawsuits filed by the Association of Deputy District Attorneys and two campaigns to have him recalled, both of which failed to qualify for the ballot.
Mr. Gascón made national news last week when he filed a motion recommending resentencing of Erik and Lyle Menendez, the brothers serving life in prison without possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
The brothers have alleged that they were sexually abused by their father, but a judge refused to allow in most of the abuse evidence during their trial. Others have argued that the brothers were motivated by greed, pointing to their lavish post-murder spending spree.
“Since the original prosecution of the Menendez brothers more than nearly three decades ago, our office has gained a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding sexual violence,” said Mr. Gascón in an Oct. 24 statement. “We recognize that it is a widespread issue impacting individuals of all gender identities, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to support all victims as they navigate the long-lasting effects of such trauma.”
The announcement, which followed a Netflix series sympathetic to the brothers, put Mr. Gascón back in the spotlight, but whether it changes the direction of the campaign is another question.
The UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll released Oct. 8 found Mr. Gascón trailing by 51% to 21%, with 28% undecided.
“The Menendez resentencing may have made a difference in a close race,” said Mr. Schnur, “but it’s unlikely to have nearly enough impact to save Gascón.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.