LA County Democrats endorse George Gascón for district attorney over incumbent Jackie Lacey

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Los Angeles County Democrats endorsed George Gascón over incumbent Jackie Lacey in the 2020 race for the county's next district attorney.

The party's endorsement committee went ahead with supporting Gascón during a vote Tuesday night, with the challenger winning nearly 80% of the vote. Lacey received less than 1%.

"There's so many people that worked so hard to make democracy work here, and this is an incredible honor for me. I'm very humbled by it," Gascón said.

Chants of "Bye Jackie" were heard when the endorsement was announced.

Gascón is a Democrat and former district attorney for the city and county of San Francisco. He's also a former Los Angeles police officer, serving as assistant chief of the department.

In 2011, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him to replace then-district attorney Kamala Harris. Now some local Democrats want him as the top prosecutor of L.A. County.

"I know Jackie Lacey has been endorsed by the Democratic party in the past, but I think our membership is sending a message to Ms. Lacey that they wanted change and they've endorsed Mr. Gascón," said Mark Gonzalez, the chair of the L.A. County Democratic Party.

In a statement, Lacey told ABC7:

"I'm thrilled to have earned the support of respected Democratic leaders like Congressman Adam Schiff, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Supervisor Janice Hahn, Supervisor Hilda Solis, L.A.'s firefighters, and the L.A. County Federation of Labor. Ultimately the endorsement I care the most about is the endorsement of the people of L.A. County."

Gascón says his goal is to take the district attorney's office in a new direction and focus on de-incarceration.

"We want to make sure that we do not prosecute young people as adults. We want to make sure that we stop the death penalty," Gascón said. "All these things that are going on, frankly, that would bring accountability to local government, that we bring accountability to the work that we do collectively."

Gascón announced he was resigning as San Francisco District Attorney in October to explore a challenge to Lacey.