SF Livid Over Gascon's Republican Past

San Francisco, say hello to your new District Attorney: a Republican. Or at least, a former Republican.

A collective gasp went up last week when the Guardian discovered an old interview with George Gascón in which he described himself as "a longtime Republican."

Gascón was San Francisco's Chief of Police until this month, when Gavin Newsom appointed him as the new DA to replace Kamala Harris. Harris left San Francisco for Sacramento when she won the race for California Attorney General.

That party affiliation is a big deal, since Gascón says that he intends to officially run for DA later this year.

But he won't be running as a Republican, according to the Ex. Late last week, he changed his party affiliation to Democrat. Will that be enough to calm voters' horror? It's hard to say. Around 16% of San Franciscans are registered as Republicans.

According to Gascón, he's parted ways with Republicans over immigration, equal rights for gays, and social services.

Meanwhile, a Facebook page has been established to boot Gascón back to Arizona. Despite changing his party affiliation, San Franciscans are still likely to take issue with his support for the death penalty.