‘OUR DISCONTENT’

Los Angeles DA Blames Her Election Loss on Calls for ‘Tsunami of Change’

Jackie Lacey invoked the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery in her speech, though criminal justice advocates have criticized her for not prosecuting officers.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey conceded her bid for re-election Friday to her reform-minded challenger George Gascon, a former San Francisco district attorney and Arizona police chief. “The results of this election is the result of this season of our discontent and wanting to see a tsunami of change,” she said, enumerating the names of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, all killed by police. Criminal justice advocates had leveled repeated criticism against Lacey throughout her campaign for declining to charge police officers involved in civilian deaths. In total, the candidates spent $13 million on the race, a record, with police unions backing Lacey and wealthy donors like Netflix’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos writing checks to Gascon.