Geneviéve LaChelle Jones-Wright is an American attorney and activist who served as a San Diego County public defender from 2006 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she was an unsuccessful candidate for San Diego County District Attorney in 2018 and mayor of San Diego in 2024. She gained attention for being falsely handcuffed and held at gunpoint by a San Diego police officer in 2016.

Biography

Geneviéve LaChelle Jones-Wright was born and raised in southeastern

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

by a

single mother A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include death, divorce, break-up, abandonment, bec ...

who worked as a cafeteria worker at Lincoln High School. She graduated from Patrick Henry High School, earned her bachelor's degree from the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

, obtained her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

degree from Howard University School of Law, and later pursued a Master of Laws from

California Western School of Law California Western School of Law is a private law school in San Diego, California. It is one of two successor organizations to California Western University, the other being Alliant International University. The school was founded in 1924, app ...

. Jones-Wright began her legal career as a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

in San Diego in 2006. She served on San Diego’s Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention and volunteered as a legal reviewer for the California Innocence Project. In March 2021, she was inducted into the San Diego County Women's Hall of Fame in recognition of her activism. In January 2016, Jones-Wright was involved in a notable incident where she was pulled over and handcuffed at gunpoint by police in front of Malcolm X Library in Valencia Park due to a reported DMV error regarding her license plates. The incident, which she recorded and shared on her Facebook page, raised questions about law enforcement practices in

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

Political campaigns

In 2018, Jones-Wright ran for San Diego County District Attorney against interim District Attorney Summer Stephan, who had been serving since the resignation of Bonnie Dumanis in July 2017. During her campaign, Jones-Wright emphasized her support for criminal justice reform, including prioritizing public safety and rehabilitation over increased prosecution, the testing of every

rape kit A rape kit or rape test kit is a package of items used by medical, police or other personnel for gathering and preserving physical evidence following an instance or allegation of sexual assault. The evidence collected from the victim can aid the ...

in San Diego, and for increased rights and protections for voluntary sex workers. She also criticized the War on Drugs and argued in favor of rolling back

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

possession convictions and defending California's cannabis laws against federal intervention. She was endorsed by then-

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

, then-

Lieutenant Governor of California The lieutenant governor of California is the second highest Executive (government), executive officer of the government of the U.S. state of California. The Lieutenant governor (United States), lieutenant governor is elected to serve a four-yea ...

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

, businessman

George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

, Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, the

Democratic Party, and NFL player and activist Malcolm Jenkins. Ultimately, Jones-Wright lost the June 5, 2018 primary election outright to Summer Stephan, garnering 37.02% of the vote to Stephan's 62.62%.

2024 San Diego mayoral candidacy

In December 2023, Jones-Wright announced plans to run for Mayor of San Diego in 2024 against incumbent

Todd Gloria Todd Rex Gloria (born May 10, 1978) is an American politician serving as the 37th mayor of San Diego since 2020. As mayor, he is the chief executive officer of the City of San Diego. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

. During the campaign, she criticized Gloria's housing and homeless policies, arguing for stricter regulations on short-term home rentals. Despite her progressive views, she faced challenges garnering support from key political figures who had endorsed her in her previous campaign for District Attorney. Jones-Wright was endorsed by San Diego County Supervisor

Monica Montgomery Steppe Monica Montgomery Steppe (born 1978) is an American politician serving as a member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors since 2023, representing District 4. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a member of the San D ...

but was not endorsed by Vice President Kamala Harris or Governor Gavin Newsom, who had previously endorsed her run for District Attorney, instead supporting Todd Gloria's re-election bid. Additionally, many progressive groups, such as the LGBTQ Victory Fund, Equality California, and the

Democratic Party, chose to endorse Gloria's re-election bid over Jones-Wright's candidacy. In the March 5th, 2024 primary, she received only 16% of the vote to incumbent Mayor Todd Gloria and independent San Diego police officer Larry Turner, who garnered 50% and 23% of the vote, respectively. She did not advance to the general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones-Wright, Genevieve Living people Public defenders Lawyers from San Diego University of San Francisco alumni Howard University School of Law alumni 21st-century American lawyers American women lawyers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American lawyers Candidates in the 2024 United States elections