When George Gascón ousted Jackie Lacey from office in 2020, it marked the end of the most expensive district attorney election in Los Angeles County history. Four years later, the money is flowing again — just not to Gascón, reports the Los Angeles Times. Gascón raked in $13 million in 2020, with more than half coming from committees organized by wealthy San Francisco Bay Area residents shelling out to support criminal justice reforms after the murder of George Floyd. Lacey stockpiled $7 million, with 72% of that money coming from police unions’ political committees. Those law enforcement factions have returned in 2024 to boost Gascón’s challenger, former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman. The wellspring of progressive cash that fueled Gascón’s run for office in 2020 has dried up when he needs it for his flagging reelection bid.
As of Oct. 14, Hochman and outside groups supporting him have raised nearly $10.4 million in campaign donations, compared with $1.2 million for Gascón and his outside supporters. The massive financial advantage has enabled Hochman to launch a media blitz painting Los Angeles as a crumbling, crime-ridden dystopia under Gascón’s watch. Polls show Hochman leading by as much as 30 percentage points among likely voters. Hochman has spent more than $1.1 million on television airtime and the production of advertisements, and an outside committee supporting the challenger has spent nearly $1.9 million on digital ads running on streaming platforms such as Hulu. The campaign’s ads feature testimonials from crime victims and line prosecutors expressing disdain for the incumbent’s “restorative justice” agenda.
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