Incumbent George Gascón led the primary race for Los Angeles County District Attorney with 23% of the vote, while former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman was in second with 18% of the vote, according to early results from the county registrar on Tuesday evening.
Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami was in third place with 12% of the vote, followed by Superior Court Judge Debra Archuleta with 9%, Deputy District Attorney Maria Ramirez with 8% and former federal prosecutor Jeff Chemerinsky with 8%. The remaining six candidates each held 6% or less of the vote.
See the latest election results.
The results, as of as of 8:45 p.m. on election night, included 598,709 vote by mail ballots and 73,558 in-person ballots cast during the 10-day voting period prior to election day, according to the registrar. The top two vote-getters will proceed to a November runoff.
“Tonight, three-quarters of Angelenos rejected George Gascón and said enough is enough of playing politics with our communities’ safety,” state Hochman in a statement following the initial result release. “In the general election, I look forward to unifying all those who want to restore safety in their communities, in their streets, parks, subways and neighborhoods. I look forward to restoring trust with prosecutors, a partnership with law enforcement, and credibility with victims and the public. “
Also see: Election 2024: Early results for Los Angeles City Council races
The primary vote was the first major referendum on the embattled incumbent’s reform agenda, which his challengers say is to blame for rising crime. These reforms include executive directives to eliminate cash bail for most crimes, end the death penalty, ban most sentencing enhancements and stop the prosecution of a wide swath of misdemeanors and non-violent felonies.
While Gascón was poised early to advance to a General Election runoff, his 11 challengers collectively received a greater percentage of the vote. This means…
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