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.
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.
See the latest election results.
“Tonight, three-quarters of Angelenos rejected George Gascon 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. “
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 he could face an uphill battle in a one-on-one showdown come November.
As the vote currently stands, he appeared to be most likely to face off against former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman.
Hochman is a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General and is best known for his 2022 California Attorney General campaign. He lost that race as a Republican candidate and is now running as an independent.
Even though he is no longer affiliated with a party, his 2022 Republican Attorney General campaign is still fresh in the minds of many voters, which could be a boon to Gascón in a runoff election in deep blue L.A. County, said Michael Bustamante, election expert and partner at California Strategies.
The third place candidate Hatami has won convictions in several prominent child abuse cases, including the torture and murder of Gabriel Fernandez, which was the subject of a Netflix true-crime documentary.
Hochman and Hatami have both said they would repeal all of Gascón’s executive directives on Day One of their terms in office.
Hatami promised to restore positive working relations within the DA’s office and improve public safety by vigorously reinstating the use of sentencing enhancements.
Hochman espoused similar “tough on crime” rhetoric and vowed to bring down violent and property crimes by using the full extent of the law to prosecute offenders.
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When it comes to fundraising Hochman is the clear leader, having amassed a mighty $2.8 million. He is followed by Chemerinsky with $1 million, Hatami with $780,000 and Siddall with $470,000. Gascon has raised the fifth most out of the 12 candidates with $435,000.
Nevertheless, Gascón has clinched many influential endorsements, including that of the L.A. Times, the L.A. County Democratic Party and the L.A. County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
His challengers have also received some big name backing — Hochman is endorsed by former LA County D.A. Steve Cooley, Hatami by Riverside D.A. Mike Hestrin and Archuleta by the Burbank Police Officers Association.