An attempt to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón failed after the organizers were unable to collect sufficient, valid petition signatures to place the proposal before voters, election officials said Monday.

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Recall organizers needed to gather nearly 570,000 valid petition signatures to schedule an election. But county officials found only about 520,000 were valid, well below the threshold, after disqualifying nearly 200,000 signatures turned in.

It was the second attempt to qualify a recall election that could remove Gascón, after an initial attempt failed last year.

“Los Angeles’ criminal justice reform movement has prevailed because this is a community that prefers facts over misplaced fear,” Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of the Prosecutors Alliance that promotes reforms, said in a statement.

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Gascón, a former San Francisco police chief who then became DA in that city, won office in Los Angeles in November 2020 as part of a wave of progressive prosecutors elected nationwide.

He ran on a criminal justice reform platform after a summer of unrest following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Los Angeles is a heavily Democratic city known for its progressive politics, but Gascón faced criticism from business leaders and prosecutors in his own office for policies that they saw as ineffective to stem rising crime. His moves to sharply restrict when prosecutors can try juveniles as adults or seek life sentences angered victims-rights groups.

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The recall committee said it would review rejected signatures and the verification process and “seek to ensure no voter was disenfranchised.”

“The citizens of Los Angeles cannot afford another two years of Gascón unleashing havoc on their streets,” the statement said.

In a region that has seen rising crime rates and brazen smash-and-grab robberies and home invasions,  Gascón was faulted for criminal justice reforms that critics said fueled lawlessness, which the top prosecutor disputed.

In a tweet, Gascón wrote that he was “grateful to move forward from this attempted political power grab.”

“My primary focus has been & will always be keeping us safe & creating a more equitable justice system for all,” he wrote.

Gascon has been accused of trying to make the criminal justice system less punitive. The former San Francisco DA has said that his policies are designed to end mass incarceration and racial disparities. 

However, several prosecutors disagree. 

“There’s a lot of us who are dispirited and feel beat down,” Deputy DA Ryan Erlich told non-profit organisation LAist. 

“It’s horrible. The morale sucks. It’s not a pleasant place.” He said Gascón is “dismantling the criminal justice system in L.A,” another one, who shall remain unnamed, said.