Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón and former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman held early leads in the DA’s race Wednesday, with the incumbent — known for championing criminal justice reform — in the lead.
Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami was polled third in a field of a dozen candidates.
Live results
A note on the results
Shortly before the polls closed Tuesday evening, Gascón said he felt “really good” about the campaign.
“I feel very strongly we will do well in November,” he told reporters.
In an interview with LAist, Hochman decried Gascon’s “pro-criminal” policies and promised to “unify the opposition to him.” He has said he would reverse all of Gascon’s reforms.
For an incumbent, Gascón made a relatively poor showing, according to at least one expert.
“The rule of thumb is that if an incumbent cannot get 50% of the vote, they are in big trouble,” said Fernando Guerra, professor of political science at the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.
But that doesn’t mean the eventual outcome of the race is a foregone conclusion.
Despite this being a non-partisan race, Guerra noted Hochman only recently left the Republican Party and registered as a non-partisan voter, which could hurt him in heavily Democratic LA County.
“You can bet that the Democratic establishment, the Democratic Party and the Democratic apparatus will be supporting George Gascón,” he said.
November will also see a bigger voter turnout, favoring Gascón, Guerra said.
“With greater turnout, there are going to be more progressive and younger voters,” he said.
About the vote count
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Keep in mind that in particularly tight races, the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after Election Day. In Los Angeles County, the first batch of results released included vote-by-mail ballots received before March 5, followed by early votes cast in-person at vote centers, then votes cast in-person on Election Day.
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The results you see are the voters counted election night. Additional results will be released following this schedule:
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Between 4 pm and 5 pm on the following dates:
- Wednesday, March 6 | Thursday, March 7 | Friday, March 8 | Monday, March 11 | Tuesday, March 12 | Wednesday, March 13 | Thursday, March 14 | Friday, March 15 | Monday, March 18 | Tuesday, March 19 | Friday, March 22 | Tuesday, March 26
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Note: We will add estimates of the remaining votes to be counted when it is released by LA County election officials.
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In California, ballots postmarked on or before March 5 are counted toward the results as long as they arrive within seven days of the election (March 12). Results must be certified by county election officials by April 4.
How we got here
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is the largest local prosecutorial office in the US
When Gascón was elected four years ago, he enacted a sweeping set of reforms when he took office as district attorney. They resulted in a dramatic reduction in the filing of misdemeanors and certain gang and other sentencing enhancements.
He has said his policy of reducing criminal penalties is aimed at reducing mass incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
DA George Gascon. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Justin Sullivan
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Getty Images
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“The movement continues,” Gascón said. “The issues that got me and others elected around the country continue to be as important today as they were before.”
At the same time, he acknowledged polls that showed people were concerned about a rise in property crimes and feeling less safe. The Los Angeles Police Department’s year-end statistics released last month show property crime rose about 3% in 2023. Violent crime was up about the same amount.
According to a Gallup poll released in November, fear for personal safety is at a three-decade high around the country. The poll found 40% of Americans said they would be afraid to walk alone at night within a mile of their home. Gallup has been asking that question since 1963.
Violent crime has trended downward nationally for at least 30 years, according to FBI data.
Gascón admitted there was more talk about crime this year than there was when he came into office in 2020.
“There is no question the political environment is very different now than it was four years ago,” he said. But he noted crime started to go up before he took office and that violent crime ticked back down last year.
Hochman argued LA County is less safe under Gascón and promised to “prosecute the prosecutor” in an expected November runoff.
“You hear about fear. You hear about people and parents being concerned about letting their children out at night,” he said.
What’s next
The county Registrar of Voters will update the vote count each afternoon around 5 pm
If nobody gets more than 50%, the top two finishers will face off in a November runoff. The registrar has yet to count a substantial number of ballots that were mailed in the last few days of the election.
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About the candidates
Debra Archuleta: Archuleta is a Superior Court judge who was first elected in 2016. Previously she was a deputy district attorney for 25 years.
Jeff Chemerinsky: Chemerinsky served as a federal prosecutor with the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles from 2014 to 2023. He most recently served as chief of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.
George Gascon: Gascón was elected as the LA County District Attorney in 2020. Previously, he served as district attorney in San Francisco, police chief in San Francisco and police chief in Mesa, Arizona. He was a Los Angeles police officer for 22 years, rising to the rank of deputy chief. Gascon enacted a sweeping set of reforms when he took office as district attorney. They resulted in a dramatic reduction in the filing of misdemeanors and certain gang and other sentencing enhancements. He has said that his policy of reducing criminal penalties is aimed at reducing mass incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
Jonathan Hatami: Hatami has been a deputy district attorney in LA County since 2006. He is a senior trial attorney in the Complex Child Abuse section.
Nathan Hochman: Hochman is a criminal defense attorney who previously served as US assistant attorney general for the Tax Division of the US Department of Justice in Washington, DC. He is also a former federal prosecutor in LA and former president of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission. In 2022, he was the Republican nominee for California attorney general.
Dan Kapelovitz: Kapelovitz is a criminal defense attorney. His firm also represents animal rights activists pro bono when they are charged with crimes related to their work to help animals. Previously, he was the features editor of Hustler Magazine.
Lloyd ‘Bobcat’ Masson: Masson is a prosecutor in the cold case unit of the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office. He is a former deputy city attorney in Los Angeles.
John McKinney: McKinney has been a deputy district attorney in LA County since 1998, serving for five years in the Hardcore Gang Division and for more than a decade in the Major Crimes Division. He also serves on the board of directors of the California District Attorneys Association.
David Milton: Milton is a retired Superior Court judge. Previously, he was a deputy district attorney in Los Angeles County and a chief assistant prosecutor in Indianapolis.
Craig Mitchell: Mitchell has been a Superior Court judge for 18 years overseeing serious felony cases. Previously, he was a deputy district attorney for 11 years and high school teacher for 17 years. Mitchell founded the Skid Row Running Club. The club brings together volunteers and runners from all walks of life to train for marathons — promoting physical fitness, mental health and community building.
Maria Ramirez: Ramirez has been a deputy district attorney since 1990. He currently oversees the Target Crime Division, which includes the Child Abduction, Arson and Explosives, Stalking and Animal Cruelty sections. Previously, Ramirez served in the Hardcore Gang and Major Narcotics Divisions and ran the Bureau of Specialized Operations.
Eric Siddall: Siddall is a violent-crimes prosecutor with the District Attorney’s Office. He is also appointed as a special assistant US attorney. He has been with the office for 16 years. Previously, he sat on the board of the victims’ rights group Justice for Murdered Children.
Follow the money
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How we’re covering this election
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Early voters and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how voters are counted and when election results are known.
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Our priority will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted. To that end, we will report when candidates conceded and otherwise rely on NPR and The Associated Press for race calls. We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more on NPR and The AP’s process for counting votes and calling races here, here and here.
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LAist’s Antonia Cereijido and James Chow contributed to this report.