Los Angeles District Attorney's Race: Meet The Candidates

LOS ANGELES, CA — Perhaps the most closely watched race in Los Angeles County is the battle for the largest district attorney's office in the nation. It’s also become the country's most scrutinized district attorney’s race.

Since he was elected in 2020, George Gascón has been a lightning rod, instituting some of the most progressive reforms of any prosecutor's office nationwide.

He faces former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hochman, who said he is running a "hard center" campaign. Hochman has pledged to emphasize justice for victims and to reverse Gascón’s policies, eschewing many sentencing enhancements, the death penalty, and charging juveniles as adults.

Hochman garnered statewide name recognition when he ran for California Attorney General as a Republican in 2022, giving Democrat Robert Bonta a competitive race in a state that hasn't elected a Republican in more than a decade.

Gascón, meanwhile, is running on his reform record, touting the dramatic increase in prosecutions of law enforcement officers accused of serious misconduct under his tenure and his efforts to reduce mass incarceration.

Voters In the Nov. 5 election are facing a choice between two distinct approaches to criminal justice.

Both men emerged from the crowded field of 11 candidates in the March primary, with Gascón garnering about 25 percent of the vote to Hochman’s 16 percent.

However, Hochman has surged ahead of Gascón with likely voters according to one recent survey by researchers at USC, CSU Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona. The poll has Hochman with a commanding 24-point lead over Gascón. About 44 percent of likely voters said they support Hochman, while only 20 percent said they support Gascón.

The candidates answered Patch's questions about their key priorities, their professional and political history, the most pivotal experience of their careers, and their role in reducing retail theft, violent crime, and property crime in Los Angeles County.

Check out the candidate profiles below, listed in the order they appear on the ballot:

Meet George Gascón, LA County District Attorney Running For Reelection

Meet Nathan Hochman, Candidate For LA County District Attorney