Nathan Hochman unseats George Gascón in LA's district attorney race, AP projects
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has lost his reelection battle against former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, the Associated Press projects.
The outcome of the closely watched race offers a glimpse into where public opinion stands on criminal justice reform since the 2020 election, which saw progressives including Gascón elected amid a national reckoning with systemic racism and policing after the killing of George Floyd.
Gascón, a Democrat who campaigned on a platform of reform and police accountability, has been accused by Hochman of worsening public safety in Los Angeles through his approach to running the DA's office.
Following his defeat, Gascón issued a statement.
"The rightward shift across America last night is heartbreaking. Democrats have a long road ahead, but the work is more vital than ever and our commitment will not waver," the statement said. "Nevertheless, I have called Mr. Hochman and wish him the best as Los Angeles County's next District Attorney. I'm deeply proud of what we've accomplished over the past four years and grateful to the communities who have been and will always be the heart of criminal justice reform."
Hochman received widespread backing from law enforcement, collecting endorsements from a coalition of unions representing officers and first responders as well as former DA Jackie Lacey and the district attorneys for Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties.
Gascón was endorsed by the LA County Democratic Party, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and the Los Angeles Times, along with a list of Democratic leaders and public officials.
The district attorney's campaign received just a fraction of the funding it did in the 2020 election — and far less than Hochman's. Gascón and outside groups supporting him raised just $1.2 million compared to $10.4 million in campaign donations for Hochman as of Oct. 14, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times.
Hochman, a former longtime Republican who ran as an independent candidate, has promised to obtain state funding to more aggressively prosecute organized retail crimes and restore the Hardcore Gang Unit in the DA's office. Gascón had renamed that department as the Community Violence Reduction Division, in a reorganization he said uses a community-oriented, public health-based approach.
Hochman wants tougher penalties for criminals and more forceful prosecution of crimes, accusing Gascón of a so-called "pro-criminal" approach. He has said the DA's office should be prosecuting lower-level crimes such as loitering for prostitution and drug possession.
Gascón, meanwhile, said Hochman's stance is reminiscent of policies and attitudes in the War on Drugs era of the 1970s.
"There's always this undertone of mass incarceration," Gascón said at the fall debate. "He talks about how he's going to provide for safety, but he talks about no flexibility, everyone faces the maximum penalty no matter what. It's so much code-talking for mass incarceration, it's so much code-talking for the War on Drugs."
Gascón has touted his record tackling police misconduct, saying he has filed five officer-involved shooting cases compared to just one case filed in the 20 years before he became the city's top prosecutor. Under his leadership, the DA's office has created the Resentencing Unit, with more than 300 people resentenced with a majority cases resulting in release.
In one of his last moves as DA, Gascón recommended resentencing for Lyle and Erik Menendez, the brothers convicted of the first-degree murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty, at the family's Beverly Hills home in 1989. He also wrote letters to Gov. Gavin Newsom in support of clemency for the men, who have been serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. Some of their family members issued a public plea calling for their release last month while at least one relative opposes the possibility.
A resentencing court hearing is set for Dec. 11 at the Van Nuys West Courthouse. It's not clear where Hochman stands on the case but his new leadership could change its outcome.
Hochman has criticized such early releases. He has also vowed to more aggressively prosecute fentanyl-related cases and organized retail theft, hot-button issues at the center of the closely watched election for Proposition 36. Voters approved the ballot initiative, which reverses the downgrading of penalties for certain crimes under 2014's voter-approved Proposition 47. Critics of that initiative have claimed it led to an increase in smash-and-grab robberies and property thefts across California.
Gascón has said his office has prosecuted more than 92% of organized retail theft cases brought to prosecutors by law enforcement this year. For the first time, his office filed murder charges in a case involving a fentanyl-related death earlier this year, backtracking from an early stance against such serious charges in drug-related cases.
Some current and former prosecutors in the DA's office have criticized Gascón's leadership, supporting and speaking alongside Hochman at an October campaign event on gender-based violence.