Alan Jackson made it official today, announcing his campaign for district attorney. As we've said before, Jackson is a career prosecutor who's best known for putting Phil Spector behind bars.

The election isn't until June 2012, but the filing period will be opening shortly. Jackson, 45, is getting a jump on the competition by becoming the first declared candidate.

Jackie Lacey, the number three administrator in the D.A.'s office, is expected to run for the job as well.

Jackson has been making his intentions known around the office for some time. He's a Republican. Like incumbent D.A. Steve Cooley, he will have to emphasize his “non-partisan” approach to win votes in heavily Democratic L.A. County.

His biggest liability — at least from the standpoint of those who support Lacey — is his lack of administrative experience. Jackson has been a front-line prosecutor in the Major Crimes Unit, but has never supervised anybody. (*Jackson's campaign says that though he's not on the D.A.'s executive staff, he does in fact supervise people within the Major Crimes Unit.)

As we've said before, he has a rather showy courtroom style, which has gotten him some major assignments within the D.A.'s office and could translate well to politics.

Cooley has said he will support a non-partisan professional prosecutor to succeed him. Jackson could fit that bill, but so could Lacey.

Echoing his boss's words, Jackson issued a statement today saying he wants to “run a dynamic and vigorous campaign to ensure that the DA's office remains in the hands of a prosecutor, not a politician.”

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