This was a reckoning-rich election for wokeism. DEI was probably the foremost victim, as Ann Coulter explains here.
Criminal justice reform also received an overdue reckoning, most notably in California. George Gascon, Los Angeles’ notoriously weak-on-crime DA, suffered a resounding defeat. Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and Assistant U.S. Attorney General, trounced him. Hochman led by 23 points when Gascon conceded.
Hochman ran as an independent. Previously, he ran unsuccessfully for California Attorney General as a Republican. He describes himself as a lifelong centrist.
Gascon is anything but. A Soros-backed DA, his pro-defendant, anti-victim policies, contained in nine sweeping “special directives” to all Los Angeles deputy district attorneys, were so radical that a union representing the deputies sued him. They alleged that some of his policies forced them to violate the law and their ethical obligations. A judge agreed.
Under one directive, prosecutors are prohibited, regardless of the length of a criminal’s record, from requesting cash bail for any misdemeanor, “non-serious felony,” or non-violent offense. Under another, 13 misdemeanor crimes are to be “declined or dismissed before arraignment and without conditions,” absent special circumstances. Among the 13 crimes that Gascon green-lighted are all drug possession charges, prostitution-related offenses, and resisting arrest. For more on his directives go here.
Naturally, crime skyrocketed under Gascon. In his campaign, Hochman emphasized data from the California Department of Justice showing that between 2020 and 2023 in the 88 cities of L.A. County, violent crimes, property crimes, and hate crimes increased by double digits while shoplifting soared by 133 percent countywide.
In his concession speech, Gascon said:
The rightward shift across America last night is heartbreaking. Democrats have a long road ahead, but the work is more vital than ever and our commitment will not waver.
The first sentence is true, if you’re a criminal. The second sentence is mostly true. Democrats have a long road ahead but will not waver.
Meanwhile, in Alameda County, woke DA Pamela Price was recalled, as was Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. In both cases, the margin approached two-thirds.
The effort to recall Price was backed by a committee called Save Alameda for Everyone (SAFE). The committee includes former Alameda County prosecutors, county residents, community activists, and crime victims and their families. You can listen to some of the victims’ criticism of Price here.
Oakland Police Officers Association President Huy Nguyen lauded the recall of both DA Price and Mayor Thao. He stated: "Voters recognized [that] their progressive leftist policies directly harmed and impacted residents, neighborhoods, working and middle class families, and small businesses."
Finally, California voters passed Prop 36. This measure repealed the infamous Prop 47 that, as Ed Morrissey puts it, turned retail theft into a new industry in the Golden State. As I mentioned here, Kamala Harris refused to say how she voted on Prop 36.
The new resolution stiffens penalties and enforcement against theft and crimes involving fentanyl. Among other things, it will now be a felony for someone to steal merchandise of any value after two previous offenses. And judges can now sentence convicted drug dealers who traffic in large quantities of hard drugs, including fentanyl, or who are armed with a gun while trafficking the drugs, to state prison instead of county jails.
Prop 36 passed with approximately 70 percent support.
The good news isn’t confined to California. John Sexton notes that Colorado, another liberal state, passed a measure that requires certain types of criminals to serve more time in prison before they qualify for parole.
And Erick Erickson reports that in Georgia, Deborah Gonzalez, the Soros-backed left-wing prosecutor who oversaw the sanctuary city policies of Athens where Laken Riley was murdered, has been defeated. Kalki Yalamanchili, an independent candidate who collected enough signatures to get on the ballot, will replace her. Yalamanchili won by around 20 points.
According to Erickson, Gonzalez’s tenure saw a massive flight of assistant district attorneys from her poorly run office and a festering soft-on-crime attitude. That attitude ultimately provided a safe haven for the illegal alien who murdered Riley.
I guess we can call the defeat of Gonzales a reckoning for open borders and for woke-style criminal justice.
Unfortunately, Fani Willis, the ethically-challenged leftist Fulton County DA, easily won reelection. Her reckoning will come later, I believe.
Great post. As I recall, Earl Warren got his start as Alameda County District Attorney. He became famous as the leader of a Supreme Court contingent that increased protections of those accused of crime, but I can't imagine he'd approve what the Soros-backed prosecutors have done. Jim Dueholm
You don't mention the despicable Alvin Bragg in Manhattan. He is currently trying a hero who tried to protect people on the subway. We will see if Manhattanites are willing to tolerate their neighborhoods being turned into crime dens.