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    • Former U.S. Attorney Nathan Hochman Declares Victory in Los Angeles District Attorney Race – Daily Breeze
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    Former U.S. Attorney Nathan Hochman Declares Victory in Los Angeles District Attorney Race – Daily Breeze

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    former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman On Wednesday, November 6, he declared victory in his bid to become the next Los Angeles district attorney, appearing to defeat the incumbent Jorge Gascona national leader of the progressive movement who came to power four years ago amid widespread calls for criminal justice reform following the police killing of George Floyd.

    Hochman overtook Gascón as soon as the first election results began coming in Tuesday night and never lost his double-digit lead.

    Gascón conceded the race Wednesday morning, several hours after the Associated Press declared Hochman the winner.

    The Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office is not expected to finish counting ballots for days, but Semi-official results released Wednesday afternoon. Hochman was far ahead with 61% of the votes compared to Gascón’s 39%. More than 500,000 votes separated the two.

    The registrar’s office, which estimated there were still 1,116,100 votes left to count, has until Dec. 3 to certify the election results.

    LIVE ELECTION RESULTS: See a chart of the latest vote counts

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    Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon at a pre-election night event at The Abbey in West Hollywood on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (Photo by Jarret Liotta)

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    “The voters of Los Angeles County have spoken and they have said enough of District Attorney Gascón’s extreme pro-crime policies; They look forward to a more secure future,” Hochman said shortly after the Associated Press called the race for him.

    “As district attorney, I hope to represent all people, whether they voted for me or not, as their safety will be my responsibility,” Hochman added.

    In a statement conceding the election, Gascón said: “The shift to the right that occurred last night in the United States is heartbreaking. Democrats have a long road ahead of us, but the work is more vital than ever and our commitment will not waver.”

    “However, I called Mr. Hochman and wish him the best as the next district attorney of Los Angeles County,” Gascón continued. “I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished over the past four years and grateful to the communities that have been and always will be at the heart of criminal justice reform.”

    In an interview Wednesday afternoon, Hochman said Gascón called him “very kindly” that morning and offered to help him with the transition of power to ensure a smooth leadership change. Hochman will be sworn in Dec. 2 as Los Angeles County’s 44th district attorney.

    Hochman said Gascón praised him during their brief phone conversation for running a good campaign. Hochman said he in turn expressed gratitude to Gascón for the current district attorney’s prior service in the military and the Los Angeles Police Department.

    Hochman’s victory this week was not unexpected.

    Although Gascón was the owner and was the largest voter in March primary electionsHe came into election day as the underdog. Recent surveys had it behind Hochman by 24 to 30 percentage points.

    Gascón was elected Los Angeles district attorney in 2020 on a progressive platform focused on criminal justice reform and police accountability that resonated with voters amid a national outcry over the police murder of George Floyd.

    But controversial policies Gascón implemented soon after taking office – such as prohibiting prosecutors from seeking “sentencing enhancements” that would have added years to a criminal’s prison sentence in certain cases – sparked turmoil within the prosecutor’s office. of the district and multiple lawsuits against Gascón by deputy prosecutors who worked for him. The Deputy District Attorneys Association, which represents deputy prosecutors in Los Angeles County, endorsed Hochman over Gascón.

    In the past four years, Gascón’s critics have also tried twice to oust him, although both efforts could not qualify for the ballot.

    Gascón then struggled to get the same level of voter support this year.

    Although he finished first in the March primary elections, Gascón he received only 25% of the votes – which some political observers considered a bad result for an incumbent. That race featured a crowded field of 12 candidates.

    Hochman, meanwhile, ran on a more traditional, tougher-on-crime platform. He crafted a narrative that Los Angeles County had become less safe over the past four years and placed the blame squarely on Gascón for the increase in crime. Hochman has repeatedly described Gascón’s policies, which he considers lax, as a “Social experiment” that has “failed” and made criminals less afraid of committing crimes.

    On Wednesday, Hochman promised to act quickly once he takes office to restore sentencing enhancements for gang members and those who commit gun crimes. He also said he would allow prosecutors to again accompany victims to parole hearings, a practice he said Gascón had gotten rid of.

    Hochman was quick to say that he is not in favor of mass incarceration, something Gascón had accused him of. He said his goal in restoring sentencing enhancements, for example, is not to “fill prisons” but to “deter criminals from committing crimes in the first place.”

    Jim Newton, who teaches in the communications and public policy departments at UCLA and is founding editor of Blueprint, a magazine that analyzes public policy research and governance in Los Angeles and other parts of the state, believes Hochman won by such margins. wide not because the voters were in deep differences. Blue Los Angeles County rejected Gascón’s progressive agenda necessarily, but because voters were rejected by the incumbent himself.

    “Gascón infuriated even many (his own) followers,” Newton said. “He took office on day one and issued all these memos that set this new course for strategy and procedural principles. … That angered a lot of people in the office who felt like I hadn’t consulted them.”

    Newton said he spoke to some people who previously donated to Gascón’s campaign but then felt he wasn’t available to listen to their ideas.

    “I think he alienated a lot of people in and around the office by appearing at least very arrogant,” Newton said, adding that there was a general sense that Gascón was “aloof.”

    Heading into Election Day, some also saw the district attorney race as a referendum on the current state of public safety in the nation’s most populous county.

    In the election campaign, both candidates cited different statistics to make his case about whether Los Angeles County is safer since Gascón took office nearly four years ago.

    The head insisted that violent crimes, including homicides, have decreased, although he acknowledged that some property crimes such as Car thefts have increased.. He said his office has addressed organized retail theft and has been “very aggressive” in tackle hate crimeshuman trafficking and waste theft.

    Countering claims that he is too soft on criminals, Gascón said that under his leadership, the district attorney’s office has prosecuted serious and violent crime cases at a rate comparable to what they did before he took office.

    Hochman disputed Gascón’s claim that violent crime has decreased, saying the headline was based on Los Angeles Police Department statistics that only showed crime trends in the city of Los Angeles. Citing data from the California Department of Justice, which takes into account crime trends for all 88 cities in Los Angeles County, Hochman said that between 2020 and 2023, violent crimes, property crimes and hate crimes increased in double digits, while shoplifting skyrocketed 133% countywide.

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