Progressive Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón advances to runoff

LOS ANGELES — One of the nation’s most progressive prosecutors, George Gascón, has reached a runoff in his re-election bid for Los Angeles County district attorney. He survived a primary race in which he had to compete against eleven challengers.

Gascón will battle the second-biggest vote-getter in Tuesday’s primary in November in the race to lead an agency that prosecutes cases in the U.S.’s most populous county.

Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and former candidate for California attorney general who ran as a Republican candidate in 2022, was close to Gascón on partial returns.

Hochman has sought to capitalize on voters’ anger over crime and homelessness, issues that led voters to oust Chesa Boudin, San Francisco’s district attorney, in a 2022 recall election. In his campaign ads, Hochman, a defense attorney, promised to change the direction of the election. district attorney, who said, “It’s time we have a district attorney who fights for victims, not criminals.”

To win the California primary, Gascón needed 50% plus one vote. Anything less will lead to a second race in November between the top two candidates, regardless of party.

Political experts said they expected Gascón to advance after the nonpartisan primaries, but are less optimistic about his chances in the fall.

In the primaries, Gascón faced off against opponents ranging from line prosecutors in his own office to former federal prosecutors and provincial judges. They sought to blame Gascón and his progressive policies for the widespread perception that the city is unsafe, highlighting shocking images of a series of brazen robberies at luxury stores. The sense of insecurity is so widespread that even the mayor and police chief of Los Angeles said in January that they were working to improve the city’s image.

But while property crime within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s jurisdiction increased by nearly 3% from 2022 to 2023, violent crime decreased by nearly 1.5% over the same period.

Gascón was elected in 2020 on a criminal justice reform platform in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. He faced a recall attempt within his first 100 days and a second attempt later, both of which failed to appear on the ballot.

During his first term, Gascón immediately imposed his campaign agenda: not to seek the death penalty; not prosecuting juveniles as adults; ending cash bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent crimes; and no longer filing enhancements that trigger harsher penalties for certain elements of crimes, recidivism or gang membership.

He was forced early in his term to reverse some of his biggest reforms, such as initially imposing the elimination of more than a hundred enhancements and raising a hate crime from a misdemeanor to a misdemeanor. The move infuriated victims’ advocates, and Gascón backed down and reinstated the improvements in cases involving children, the elderly, and people because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

His challengers have pledged to reverse many or nearly all of his most progressive policies, such as his early order to end sentencing enhancements.