Embattled Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s fundraising totals according to the most recent campaign filings are showing the lack of confidence L.A. County voters have in his bid for re-election.
As of January 20th, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office candidates disclosures, Gascon is in last place with cash on hand among the candidates running for District Attorney.
Among the 10 candidates, Gascon has $21,753 with three weeks to go to election day.
According to the most recent and only independent poll by the University of Southern California Dornsife/Price Center for Urban Politics and Policy,CSU Long Beach, Cal Poly Pomona, conducted the California Elections and Policy Poll of 1,416 of the California voter electorate on January 21st-29th, a jaw dropping 64% were undecided as to whom they will vote for for District Attorney.
Out of the approximate 6.2 million registered voters in LA county, 1.8 million voted in the 2020 primary.
Gascon needs to convince more than half of those voters, approximately 900,000 people, to be re-elected.
Given the overwhelming amount of negative press he has received for his sympathetic approach to criminals as opposed to the victims of their crimes, $21,753 won’t push the needle much, if any. Making his bid for reelection significantly difficult.
As predicted, the L.A. Times editorial board endorsed Gascon on January, 20th, ironically the same day the most recent campaign disclosures revealed his fundraising weaknesses, a likely result of three years of pro-criminal directives that have devastated public safety in Los Angeles county.
Gacon’s LAT endorsement came in the midst of inner turmoil and layoffs of 25% of their newsroom, presumably tied to a significant loss in readership and the beating their reputation has taken for on-going, obvious political bias in their reporting.
While Gascón still has a hard-core political base that continues to support him and continued coverage in LAT to support his reelection, according to the polls, far too many voters who bought his criminal reform platform in 2020, are having buyer’s remorse.
The closest consistent challenger in the most recent poll at 8% is veteran prosecutor Jonathan Hatami who has been publicly challenging Gascon, his boss, since the day he took office.
Hatami’s commitment to victims of violent crime and exposing Gascon’s failures has resulted in a loyal following.
The most high-profile prosecutor in the county has $379,000 cash on hand and billboards throughout the county targeting millions of motorists daily with his pro-public safety campaign message.
Hatami for L.A. D.A. billboard.Photo byThe Current Report
The Hatami campaign has more endorsements than all 11 challengers combined including 14 Police Officer Associations, 3 elected District Attorneys and 12 city mayors.
While two other candidates have been successful fundraising because of their ties to wealthy donors, accoording to the polls, their name recognition and platforms are not resonating with the voters.
In the latest independent poll, despite having the most cash on hand with approximately $810,000, Nathan Hochman came in at 4%.
Chereminsky, with $536,000 cash on hand, came in at 2%.
USC/Dornsife Price Center Independent PollPhoto byUSC/Dornsife Price
At the most recent debate, after being confronted by a mother whose son was gunned down by gang members in front of her home, Gascon defended removing enhancements that could have kept her son’s murderer behind bars an extra 20 years.
“The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result.” he said.
Duly noted George and a profound reminder as we head to the ballot box.
However, if the usual suspects appear, as they did in the just three weeks before the November 2020 election, such as billionaire George Soros and major special interest groups, millions could be pumped into Gascon’s Independent Expenditures. L.A. County voters need to be watching this election closely – and most important – get out and vote.
Mail in or vote in person by March 5th.
Watch Undercover LA where we discuss public safety and the race for LA County District Attorney on You Tube.Photo byUndercover LA
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