A new petition has been approved for the recall of L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón, campaign officials announced Thursday night.
The petition now has 160 days to collect 566,857 signatures — 10% of the registered voters in L.A. County — to qualify to be placed on a ballot. The submission deadline for the petition is slated for July 6 and the campaign organizers believe that, if successful in gathering the signatures, the recall would “likely appear on the November 2022 ballot.”
While proponents of the reform-minded district attorney have said in the past that his policies are designed to fight systemic racism and promote civil rights, his critics have said that his policies have led to a rise in crime and further damage toward victims of crimes.
“We are sick and tired of living in the pro-criminal paradise Gascón has created,” Desiree Andrade and Tania Owen, co-chairs of the Recall DA George Gascón campaign, said in a prepared statement. “Gascón turned his back on us, and now his policies are destroying Los Angeles County right before our eyes and needlessly creating more innocent victims.”
“This is our chance to put an end to all of it, but it is a massive undertaking that will require an all-in approach from the entire community,” Andrade and Owen added. “We need all Angelenos to join us in this effort to restore public safety and end the chaos in our streets. We all deserve to live without fear of criminals running amok, and to have a district attorney who actually does his job.”
In a response sent to The Signal on Friday, Gascón’s anti-recall campaign called the recall effort “politically motivated” and akin to the failed effort last year to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Los Angeles voters are far more interested in actually enhancing community safety for families, victims and all those living in L.A. County than they are in yet another politically motivated recall attempt, especially after L.A. County voted 70.8% against the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom just a few months ago,” said Elise Moore, a spokeswoman for Gascón’s anti-recall campaign.
The first recall effort last year sputtered out after it appeared the proper number of signatures, and the resources needed to obtain them, were out of hand’s reach for the petitioners. However, those running the latest effort said they have already gathered $2.7 million in contributions.
“This is critical given the substantial number of signatures required, the cost of signature collection, and the short time frame,” said the petition organizers in a statement about the recall. “Instead of constantly playing catch-up with resources, this effort is starting out ahead of the curve.”