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Lacey Endorses Hochman for District Attorney
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey is seen at a press conference endorsing Nathan Hochman for election as district attorney, Hochman is at right. |
Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, who has maintained a low profile since her 2020 reelection defeat, yesterday held a press conference at which she endorsed former Assistant U.S. Attorney General Nathan Hochman in his quest to unseat her successor, George Gascón.
The press conference was staged outside Lacey’s childhood home in South Los Angeles where her father was nonfatally shot several years ago which sparked her interest in a career in criminal justice.
Lacey told reporters:
“We must have leadership at the District Attorney’s Office that understands its mission is to seek justice by, among other things, sending a message that criminal behavior is unacceptable in our county. We don’t have that with the current district attorney.
“Criminals are more brazen because they know they have allies embedded in that office. They know the office policies better than we do.”
The county’s former two-term chief prosecutor added:
“I am endorsing Nathan Hochman for district attorney because I feel a lot less safe than I did four years ago. It’s time to thank and excuse the current district attorney and elect someone with a conscience.”
Hochman, in introducing Lacey, said:
“Jackie’s endorsement is extremely meaningful to me and I am so thankful that she supports my campaign for district attorney. She was an exceptional district attorney who served 34 years with the office, striving every day to pursue justice on behalf of the people of Los Angeles County, where she was born and raised.”
He commented:
“Jackie was able to show the people who worked for her—the hundreds of deputy district attorneys—that she could lead by example, that she could lead with integrity, that she could lead with experience and judgment, and she was respected by those deputy district attorneys.”
Hochman said that is “in contrast to our current district attorney who has never prosecuted or defended a criminal case in his entire life and for whom over 98 percent of the deputy district attorneys supported his recall.”
Former District Attorney Steve Cooley was an early endorser of Hochman. Gil Garcetti and Ira Reiner, also former district attorneys, endorsed Gascón in 2020 but have not chosen up sides this year.
Gascón is endorsed by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and by several Democratic clubs, as well as labor unions. One union—the Association of Deputy District Attorneys—is backing Hochman.
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