Voters fed up with crime in California, Illinois and Georgia went to the ballot box Tuesday to fire prosecutors whom many saw as too lenient on criminals.
They included George Gascon, the George Soros-backed Democrat in Los Angeles County. Southern Californians handed a major win to the district attorney’s challenger, Nathan Hochman.
Mr. Hochman, a former federal prosecutor who ran as an independent, won with 61% of the count to Mr. Gascon’s 39%. Voters soured on the liberal district attorney’s 2020 policy implementations, which included a ban on charging juveniles as adults and a policy of not prosecuting the quality-of-life crimes associated with homelessness.
“The voters of Los Angeles County have spoken and have said enough is enough of DA Gascon’s pro-criminal extreme policies; they look forward to a safer future,” Mr. Hochman said Wednesday morning. “As DA, I look forward to representing all of the people, whether they voted for me or not, since their safety will be my responsibility.”
Mr. Gascon, who in previous campaigns received millions of dollars in campaign donations from left-wing billionaire Mr. Soros, trailed significantly in the polls leading up to Election Day.
Mr. Gascon appeared to throw a Hail Mary of sorts last month by proposing a resentencing of the Menendez brothers for the 1989 murders of their parents. New evidence revived attention to the case.
Crime-weary Los Angeles voters rejected the district attorney’s focus on reform and rehabilitation.
“The rightward shift across America last night is heartbreaking,” Mr. Gascon said in his concession statement. “Democrats have a long road ahead, but the work is more vital than ever and our commitment will not waver.”
California voters weren’t finished.
In the Bay Area, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price was booted from office in a first-ever recall vote for the Oakland area’s top prosecutor.
Nearly 70% of voters backed the recall initiative for a prosecutor with less than two years on the job.
Recall proponents hammered Ms. Price for her lighter sentencing policies, including her reduction in charges for the killing of Jasper Wu, a nearly 2-year-old boy who was hit by a stray bullet in 2021.
Ms. Price removed a sentencing enhancement that would have prevented the defendants from seeking parole.
The anti-recall campaign credited Ms. Price when Oakland ended October without a homicide for the first time in 10 years.
Reports that a man arrested in a San Francisco stabbing over the weekend had avoided serious jail time for an Alameda County robbery this year all but cemented Ms. Price’s fate. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was also recalled Tuesday night, partly because of the city’s issues with public safety.
“The voters and the people in the county would like to see change and would like to see someone who is really taking the job seriously and taking the victims and the families seriously,” said Oakland Chinatown leader Carl Chan, a primary organizer in the recall campaign against Ms. Price.
Cracking down on violent criminals and aggressive shoplifters was a winning message for Chicago’s next top prosecutor, Eileen O’Neill Burke.
The Democrat won 66% of the vote in the Cook County state’s attorney race by promising to keep people charged with weapons offenses behind bars while their cases go through the courts.
The incoming state’s attorney also wants to prosecute retail thefts of $300 or more as felony offenses, per state law.
Outgoing prosecutor Kim Foxx also had received Soros campaign money. She decided not to seek reelection.
“Each and every one of us wants to live in a city where a mass shooting doesn’t happen on a regular basis,” Ms. O’Neill Burke said after she secured the win. “We all want a community where people and businesses can thrive unencumbered by fear. And we all want our children to be able to play outside regardless of what ZIP code they live in.”
Other prosecutors lost reelection for their “sanctuary” policies that protected illegal immigrants who were later charged with heinous crimes.
Deborah Gonzalez, the Democratic district attorney in Georgia’s Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties, did not alert immigration officials about Venezuelan migrant Jose Ibarra after he was arrested on shoplifting charges last year.
Mr. Ibarra was later charged in the February beating and strangulation of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was yanked off a jogging trail.
Republican challenger Kalki Yalamanchili cruised past Ms. Gonzalez with 75% of the vote against the Soros-backed district attorney.
“This wasn’t just a message that resonated in one county or even one political party. It clearly was appealing to a broad group of people with a similar vision,” Mr. Yalamanchili said. “It’s not a political vision, but a practical, commonsense perspective on what we want our DA’s office to do.”
Tuesday night wasn’t all gloom and doom for liberal prosecutors.
In Texas, Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza easily won reelection over Republican challenger Daniel Betts to keep his spot as Austin’s top prosecutor.
Mr. Garza rose to prominence in 2020 when he campaigned in part on prosecuting police officers who used force against protesters in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. His office pursued charges against only four of the 21 officers indicted by a grand jury.
Mr. Garza’s most high-profile case was against Daniel Perry, a driver who fatally shot a protester during the 2020 riots.
Perry was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years behind bars, but Gov. Gregg Abbott, a Republican, later pardoned him. Mr. Garza has petitioned for the pardon to be dismissed.
The district attorney survived a recall attempt this spring after a judge found the main allegations — that Mr. Garza wasn’t prosecuting drug cases and he indiscriminately charged police officers with assault — were not valid.
Mr. Garza also had received campaign funding from Mr. Soros.
In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis won another term in office after defeating Republican Courtney Kramer.
Ms. Willis is best known for bringing racketeering charges against former President Donald Trump on accusations that he tried to overturn his 2020 electoral loss in Georgia.
Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty, and the prosecution stalled after his attorneys appealed the charges. They accused Ms. Willis of having a romantic fling with the special prosecutor leading the investigation.
The Georgia Court of Appeals plans to hear arguments in the conflict of interest case next month.
Four people have pleaded guilty after reaching deals with Fulton County prosecutors.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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