The District Attorney’s race is gearing up to pitch George Gascón’s reform agenda against former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman’s tough-on-crime attitude as the two candidates hold on to early leads in the primary election results.
Gascón had 21.4% of the vote and Hochman had 17.7% as of the LA County registrar’s latest update Wednesday morning. Deputy District Attorney Johnathan Hatami was the only other of the 11 challengers to break the double-digits with 13.3% of the vote.
The top-two vote getters will proceed to a November runoff and this article will be updated as more results are released.
See the latest election results.
A Gascón vs. Hochman or even Hatami showdown would mean a battle between some of the most liberal and conservative ideals in the race.
Former federal prosecutor Jeff Chemerinsky, who positioned himself as anti-Gascón, but pro-criminal justice reform, held 7% of the vote — dashing chances of a progressive on progressive runoff.
Since his election in 2020, Gascón has enacted sweeping policy changes in the name of lowering incarceration rates and promoting a more humane approach to criminal justice. This includes ending cash bail for most crimes, the use of sentencing enhancements and the prosecution of a wide swath of misdemeanors, including trespassing, drug possession and resisting arrest.
Hochman and Hatami both say these policies are to blame for rising rates of crime and have vowed to roll them back on day one.
While Gascón leads the race, he faces a tough road ahead. Challengers took the majority of the vote and multiple polls have shown the embattled incumbent with a disproval rating of over 50%.
“Almost 80% of the votes cast last night were not for Gascón,” said veteran campaign strategist Michael Bustamante. “Even though he won that is the significant red flag for the incumbent and really underscores the work that Gascón needs to do with his campaign in order to be successful.”
However,…
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