LA District Attorney Gascón Claims Less Than a Quarter of the Vote in Primary Election

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon removes his mask before speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles on Dec. 8, 2021. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has 22 percent of the vote cast in the county’s March 5 primary election, according to a March 6 late afternoon update from the county elections officials.

The current results suggest he will move on to the Nov. 5 general election to face Nathan Hochman, a former U.S. assistant attorney, who had captured 17.6 percent of the vote as of Wednesday afternoon.

Unofficial results Tuesday evening, also had the two contenders at first and second place, respectively.

The two top finishers will compete in the general election Nov. 5 to run the nation’s largest local prosecutorial office.

Mr. Hochman said Tuesday’s results showed public sentiment was on his side.

“Tonight, three-quarters of Angelenos rejected George Gascón and said enough is enough of playing politics with our communities’ safety,” Mr. Hochman said Tuesday night in a statement posted on X. “The Golden Age of Criminals is coming to an end.”

Mr. Hochman said he looks forward to unifying all voters who want to restore safety in the county.

“I look forward to restoring trust with prosecutors, a partnership with law enforcement, and credibility with victims and the public,” he added.

Third was Jonathan Hatami, a prosecutor in Mr. Gascón’s office who works in the child abuse section. Mr. Hatami received 13.4 percent of the vote, and the only other candidate to snag double-digits, according to the county’s unofficial results.

“Remember, for everything we went through the last [three] and a half years, we are still standing,” Mr. Hatami posted on X Wednesday morning. “I’m headed to work this morning. There are still children to fight for.”

Mr. Gascón spent the early hours of Tuesday evening in Grand Park, near the Criminal Courts building in downtown Los Angeles, answering questions from reporters. He told reporters he felt good about his chances and planned to watch the results with his family at home, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“This has been an arduous primary, we’ve had a lot of community support but it’s obviously been very heavily contested,” he said.

Mr. Gascón’s campaign did not immediately return a request for comment.

The controversial district attorney faced 11 challengers in Tuesday’s contest. Five of the candidates work for him—Maria Ramirez, the head deputy DA; John McKinney, a supervising district attorney; Mr. Hatami; Eric Siddall, a violent crimes prosecutor; and Lloyd “Bobcat” Masson, a cold case prosecutor.

Two Los Angeles Superior Court Judges—Debra Archuleta and Craig Mitchell—were also on the ballot and were allowed to run after taking an unpaid leave of absence.

The other candidates were Jeff Chemerinksy, an assistant U.S. attorney; and Dan Kapelovitz, a private practice criminal defense attorney.

Mr. Hochman polled third behind Mr. Hatami and Mr. Gascón leading up to Tuesday’s election.

During his campaign, he promised to “get politics out of the DA’s Office and restore public safety.”

Mr. Gascón defended his progressive policies, saying crime was decreasing and his reforms were “good for public safety.”

The district attorney’s attempts to refocus his record during the campaign failed to quell community disapproval and internal criticism. A survey published in January of Los Angeles residents found that more than half believe their city is “on the wrong track” when it comes to crime and safety.

A majority of those surveyed also viewed Mr. Gascón negatively. Seventy percent of survey participants also identified smash-and-grab thefts, property crimes, and hate crimes as highly serious problems in the city.

The county will be updating results daily, Monday through Friday, between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. for the next two weeks until the results are final.