Disclaimer: This article may contain the personal views and opinions of the author.
A campaign to recall progressive LA District Attorney George Gascon has garnered more than 700,000 signatures before the Wednesday deadline.
It is reported that they collected 717,000 signatures and of those signatures, 566,857 must be verified to proceed with the recall.
The First Light Report said:
George Gascón has been under fire from critics virtually ever since he took office, when he delivered a series of directives many have blasted him as being soft on crime. The directives contain a ban on transferring juvenile defendants to adult court, a rule against seeking the death penalty, and prohibitions on filing sentencing enhancements in most cases.
George Gascón has continually defended his policies, claiming his stands were well-known during his campaign and his election meant public support of his agenda.
The recall organizers made a statement and said that residents “have spoken in a resounding way”.
“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 Gascón from office. From day one, this recall has been led by the very victims who George Gascón has abandoned, ignored and dismissed. When the recall qualifies, he will not be able to ignore them any longer.”
Gascon is not the only person who has been up for a recall. San Fransisco residents voted overwhelmingly to recall their District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
The Raging Patriot recently reported:
Proponents of the recall claimed Boudin — a longtime public defender — wasn’t prosecuting criminals aggressively and said his instituting progressive policies were putting the safety of residents at risk. They spent over $7 million blasting that message to voters in San Francisco throughout the course of the campaign.
“This election does not mean that San Francisco has drifted to the far right on our approach to criminal justice,” Mary Jung, a chair of the recall campaign, said in a statement. “In fact, San Francisco has been a national beacon for progressive criminal justice reform for decades and will continue to do so with new leadership.”
Momentum to recall Boudin picked up steam throughout 2021 as hate crimes against Asian Americans in San Francisco increased dramatically and victims blamed Boudin, saying he was siding with criminals. Recall supporters also pointed to car break-ins and viral smash-and-grab robberies at major retail stores, claiming they were becoming common occurrences as consequences of Boudin’s policies.
Recently, California called for the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom. However, the recall was unsuccessful.
Ballotpedia shared:
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was retained in a recall election on September 14, 2021. Newsom was retained from 61.9% to 38.1%. Roughly 12.8 million voters participated in the election. To see the results of the replacement candidate question, click here.
Voters had to decide two questions: whether Newsom should be recalled and, if so, who should replace him. A majority vote was required on the first question for the governor to be recalled. If Newsom had been recalled, the candidate with the most votes on the second question would have won the election, no majority required.
Whether the recalls are successful or not, all this points to the fact that people are paying attention more than ever.
