2020 Election LA DA's Race 2020

Measure R Passing With a Landslide, While DA’s Race Still Balances On a Nerve-Wracking Razor’s Edge – UPDATED

Celeste Fremon
Written by Celeste Fremon

As one more round of ballots is counted after Tuesday’s unforgivably badly organized voting day, the much-watched race for Los Angeles County District Attorney could still go either way when it comes to avoiding a run-off battle in November, thus giving DA Jackie Lacey a third term.

At last count, Lacey has exactly 50.00 percent of the vote, or 615,864 actual votes, Lacey needs 50 percent plus one vote needed to get her to an unimpeded victory.  Right now she’s dead on at 50 percent.**

(Lacy’s vote drops even a fraction of a percent she will not have the necessary tally to shut down the race, meaning the contest will continue and voters will make their final choice in November between Lacey and whoever has the next highest vote county.)

As of now, former longtime cop and retired San Francisco DA George Gascon has that next highest vote count with 27.44 percent or 337,962 votes.

Yet, former public defender, Rachel Rossi, is close behind Gascón with 22.56 percent, or 277,933 votes.

As most readers know that this is a race that has stimulated a lot of strong feelings on all sides of the race, meaning those tracking the outcome are unlikely to exhale for a while.

As of 5:30 p.m., March 5, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder, the total LA County election count is now 1,294,610, which is 23.48% of eligible Los Angeles County voters.

The estimated number of ballots still to be counted as of this writing is 802,380.

We will be updating you right here whenever a new count is published so check back.


Measure R’s runaway victory

One of the clearest winners among the issues and candidates struggling for victory in Tuesday’s election is Measure R, which has passed with an undisputed landslide even before all of LA County’s votes have been counted.

The historic grassroots-led ballot initiative is designed to empower the Civilian Oversight Commission charged with overseeing the LA County Sheriff’s Department,  giving the COC its own power to investigate by granting it subpoena power, apart from its current investigative arm, which is the Office of the Inspector General. The initiative would also require the county to develop a comprehensive plan for reducing LA’s reliance on its jails, particularly when it comes to Los Angeles residents who are struggling with mental health issues.

The effort to get the measure on the ballot, which swung into overdrive last year, was led by Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, political strategist Jasmyne Cannick, and other women and families impacted by the justice system.

A  list of elected officials, activist organizations and others endorsed the initiative, including members of LA City Council,  both district attorney challengers, Gascón and Rossi, presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, 20 political clubs, and lots more.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva, however, has been one of the measure’s most ardent opponents.

Last month, Villanueva explained the reasons behind his dislike for Measure R on KPCC’s Air Talk with Larry Mantle.

“Measure R is a taxpayer-funded shaming effort from people who have always been opposed to the sheriff’s department and what we do,” the sheriff told Mantle. Subpoena power was unnecessary, he said, because everything that could be disclosed legally, the department was already planning to put online on the LASD’s website.

“So all this is is public shaming,” Villanueva reiterated, and it would “cost a fortune in lawyer fees,” because the Civilian Oversight Commission would try to get documents “that they’re not legally allowed to have.”

(Since the COC is mostly made up of lawyers and law professors, including one former federal judge who is also is a former U.S. Attorney, it was unclear why the group would be so eager to attempt to shred state privacy statutes.)

What Measure R would mostly provide, said the sheriff, is a taxpayer-funded “cottage industry” of lawsuits.

LA voters, however, appeared to think otherwise.

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, the day after the vote, Jasmyne Cannick, one of Measure R’s original sponsors, credited the sheriff with inadvertently doing a lot to help the passage of Measure R  with such actions as the controversial rehiring of Karin “Carl” Mandoyan, by his seeming failure to deal adequately with the department’s deputy gang issue, and by his handling of other issues, such as, Cannick wrote, “this latest incident with deputies sharing the photos from the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash…”

In any case, the majority of voters appeared to feel LA County would benefit from Measure R, and thus sent it cruising toward victory.

More soon…as we know it.


Top photo of Patrisse Cullors with voting canvassers for Yes on R, via Cullors’ Instagram.

32 Comments

  • Celeste, in your giddy rush to declare victory on Measure R, you forgot to mention the $2.1 million spent in support of the measure, with over a million coming from the wife of the Netflix founder. You also forgot to mention the measure was never published with a detailed For, Against, and rebuttals in the county voter pamphlet, or the supervisors campaigning for it while creating their identical subpoena measure using all of the resources of county government.

    Bay Area billionaires bankrolling a measure to appease the social justice warrior crowd. The same crowd trying to force Gascon on unsuspecting LA county residents. You know all of this Celeste, yet you chose to stay silent…

  • Keep Dreaming, you can point fingers all you want but we all know who is the culprit here. Initials A.V. Without all of his idiocies, there never would have been a Prop R simple as that.

    In a little over a year, he has made Baca seem………………well, almost smart. And I thought that would be impossible. At least he’s accomplished one thing.

  • Exactly.
    The Dreamer wants to deflect and point a finger at Celeste when others have given him a thrashing concerning LASD & A.V. Facts matter!

  • ALADS gave 1.3 million to Sheriff Villanueva’s campaign in which he won, what’s your point?
    BTW, Villanueva’s campaign poster of Trump, Sessions and McDonnell was trickery and many fell for it.

    Obviously accountability comes at a cost for Measure R as the people have spoken.

  • You get the police you want and deserve congrats everyone one more step closer to deputies hiding all shift only leaving station to handle calls , this is what the citizens of la county wants , it’s hilarious to me the people who voted for this and hate law enforcement in general are the people that need us the most I love it , enjoy gangsters and drug addicts walking up and down your streets I’ll still be here in another state , oh and when you realize you want proactive policing to come back because your neighborhood is back to the 80 s high crime levels , it ll be too late no turning back so enjoy the mess you helped to create

  • Ok…so I’m confused. Doesnt Measure R go completely against the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights? Which is a State law? And County Measures dont trump over state laws. So hows this Measure R going to work out?

  • The citizens of the area being policed should be allowed to dictate the man we in which they are policed.
    It’s apparent the people of LA County have spoken. They want minimal enforcement, minimal prosecution, and minimal interference with criminal activity because bad guys are savages and may have to get their asses kicked…but that doesn’t sit right with them. So be it.
    Best of luck to those sheepdogs still stuck in Bernie Sanders’ love fest of free shit and no repercussions. God Bless California but evil is winning.

  • Yes, it runs afoul of many longstanding precedents and statutes, and it will be challenged vigorously by the unions and individual deputies. The ONLY reason for Civilian Oversight to obtain this material is so that members can leak any and all of it to the media. Stay tuned – I guarantee that will happen. Each and every privacy violation needs to be litigated.

  • You are right, Prop R sucks. But there has always been an axiom in case decisions that go against us: bad police work results in bad case law. In this instance lousy leadership has lead to a lousy law. The actions of Sheriff Valenzuela has brought a lazer beam of criticism and bad publicity on the Sheriff’s Department from the moment he walked in the door (and it turns out before he was even sworn in). Here he was, the darling of the liberal media and the Democrats, and even they turned on him like hyenas going after a wounded antelope. And, of course the liberal voters in this county were quick to take the bait and pile on.

    For the most part, this is not a vote against the folks who plug away day in and day out doing their job out in the streets and in the jails. This is a vote against an administration that is seen as corrupt, deceitful and unbending. As upsetting as this is, you will survive. Given the amount of constant negative press AV has produced in just a little over a year, he is on track to have just two chances to survive his next election…………..slim and none. He will be gone (sadly, I had hope for him).

    I have been around long enough that I was a puppy hitting patrol shortly after the Miranda decision (the result of bad police work) was made and policy was just being briefed during my first days as a Trainee. I remember the old heads going nuts about how that would affect police work and how it was “doomed” (of course as a wide-eyed pup I thought maybe it was doomed – I didn’t know shit). Somehow we survived. You will too. There was work to be done then, there is work to be done now. Keep your chin up, go out, do your job, and do it right. It is a tough job, but so are you. Let the fools downtown do their thing, just keep your nose clean and have fun.

  • Gang injunctions were deemed racists , I remember what gang injunctions did to Florencia, the deps on that task force did an outstanding job , the residents were very happy the terrorist were off the street ,,,,,,,,now they are back

  • Just keep on passing laws, measures or whatever you want to call them to intimidate, impede and deter law enforcement from during their job. All it really means is less work, danger and risks for the same pay at the end of the day.

  • At first glance and in a heated atmosphere, Measure R appears desirable to the general public. Indeed, there does exist valid arguments in a general sense for Measure R. All should agree transparency from the Sheriff’s Department is ideal. Such transparency does not, and cannot, be unlimited nor can it exist in a vacuum. Consequently, myriad reasons exist for tempering both the stampede of emotions behind Measure R as well as its substantive effects. The overriding goal of police oversight should be public safety. I do not believe Measure R serves this purpose. Also, it appears to infringe upon well established law. Time will tell how Measure R is actually implemented, if at all, and its impact. I hope for all concerned the effect is, at a minimum, benign for all concerned.

  • I’m old too so were my relatives in law enforcement, I understand what your saying, however it is far worse for Police Officers today. I too would like to think the new people will adjust like we did. This time I think we ve reached the doom and gloom we feared. The hatred toward police is worse than ever, in many places like CA . Not in Utah though !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Stops, the people of LA County advanced measure R with a resounding Yes. Your notion of “this time I think we’ve reached the doom and gloom we feared. The hatred toward police is worse than ever, in many places like CA” is simply not true.

    This measure is a result of failures, fumbles, and weekly scandals of Villanueva no questions asked. I think the County’s conscience has been rocked by a series of horrible decisions, and his failure to hold reckless and law-breaking Deputies accountable. And, not counting the $ 84 million burden in lawsuits.

    Not only is it fitting that the Sheriff of LA County give high priority to ensuring the accountability of Deputies, it is essential to community trust. Villanueva’s never ending scandals associated with abuse of power, have jeopardized organizational stability. As a consequence, it is not surprising that the people of LA County want an oversight mechanism to seek to ensure Deputy accountability to both the law, and the policies and procedures of the Sheriff’s Department.

  • Well said Apostle. I don’t blame just Villanueva. If the comments of some purportedly in the know here are accurate, there are some internal issues that were ignored or even encouraged by Tanaka et al that have helped to move things to this point. When the rules don’t count at the top, it’s hard for people to believe that they count at the bottom either. God bless the many decent and hard working Deputies that still try their best despite the drama.

  • Ok #lasd propaganda , enjoy the high crime rate , the message to deps is clear have as little contact with the public as possible , and the hatred toward law enforcement in LA county is true ask anyone out there in uniform . But that’s ok you reap what you sow, in this case impotent police like they have in Seattle and San Francisco , enjoy!

  • Stops, I know you like to construct your own reality, necessitating an attack on fact-finding. Go ahead protect Villanueva, and traffic in conspiracy theories to earths end. These baseless theories of “hatred toward law enforcement” are a way for you to safeguard Villanueva’s epic debacles, feed his narcissistic ego, and undercut his critics, all this while he corrodes LASD. The wreckage from his destructive legacy won’t be easily repaired after he leaves the Department. His conduct is an affront to the good Deputies who serve honorably every day and fulfill their duties with fairness and integrity.

  • #LASD Propaganda I do not attack anyone on any forum. I would like to educate you Law Enforcement Officers are under constant attack from a wide variety of sources, the public , the media and in court. The attack is non stop, every incident involving the Police , there is an army (which includes you apparently) of people ready to spin and attack us . To say otherwise is mind boggling, every newspaper or media outlet has a negative story about how terrible we are so I don’t know how you can say there isn’t a hatred of Law Enforcement . I’m done with this typing to a wall .

  • “…So I don’t know how you can say there isn’t a hatred of Law Enforcement.’

    THAT isn’t hatred; it is deep suspicion.

    My wife comes from a country deep down into the Western Hemisphere where, if you said something against the Government, you disappeared–nobody ever saw you agin.

    That system of governance was practiced throughout the Western Hemisphere below the southern Mexican border until the Fall of The Soviet Union in 1992; after that, there was no big country left to proselytize Communism, so it became safe to dismantle the apparatus that enforced Forced Disappearances (that phrase can be Googled; do it if you want to get an inkling of what transpired Down There).

    So it’s not hatred of Law Enforcement; it is DEEP distrust.

  • This is what is going to happen re the DA race. In Kalifornia we have ‘voter harvesting’ and after all the dead and illegal aliens vote Lacy won’t have a chance.

  • Measure R was initiated because of dirty deeds by some law enforcement officers hidden from the public and go unpunished or corrected.

  • Latest results on Measure R : Yes votes 906,038 or 71.7 %
    No Votes 357,658 or 28.3%

  • Maybe the distrust is earned. Did you see the ALADS advisory about the 120 day employee (who answers only to the Undersheriff) now doing “inquiries” for the Department? Is ICIB or IA so overwhelmed they cant keep up? Or is this a way to get to a pre-determined outcome without potential misconduct being formally documented? Maybe Ron can weigh in, I know he follows this site.

  • Talk about the DA’s race: according to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s website so kindly provided by WLA up above Lacey now has 49.94% of the vote; she need 50+% to avoid a run-off this November.

    Evidently ballots are still being counted, a week+ after the election.

    Twisting in the wind….

  • A bigger down payment from ALADS would have helped.

    You can’t be cheap when you want political allies on your roster as you already know with A.V. topping the list.

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