An Update on a Crucial District Attorney Race

Good morning.

If you haven’t already gotten your ballot, you will soon.

And if you live in Los Angeles County, it will ask you to weigh in on one of the most consequential races in the country. No, again, I’m not talking about the presidential race.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, elected in 2012 as the first woman and the first African-American to run the nation’s biggest prosecutor’s office, is facing a major challenge from George Gascón, who, until recently, was San Francisco’s district attorney.

[Read more from last year about the candidates’ opposing views of criminal justice.]

Mr. Gascón, who worked as a police officer in Los Angeles early in his career, pitched himself as a progressive reformer — someone who would help keep people out of jail and prison, rather than continue Ms. Lacey’s tough-on-crime approach.

In March, Ms. Lacey narrowly failed to win the majority of primary votes she needed to avoid a runoff.