Former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman topped a crowded field of tough-on-crime candidates in the primary for Los Angeles District Attorney, coming in second behind incumbent George Gascón. The two will face off in the general election on Nov. 5.
On election night, Gascón criticized his challengers for “fearmongering” during the campaign.
“The numbers are what they are,” he said. “The reality is, crime is going down.”
Violent crime decreased 1.5% in L.A. County in 2023, while property crime increased 3%. But Hochman claims those numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“I would argue that Gascón has manipulated the figures, and let me explain how,” he told KNX News Chief Correspondent Charles Feldman. “Gascón has not looked at 2023 versus 2020 or 2019 when he came into office … 2023 is still up for violent crimes compared to when he came into office in 2020 or 2019.”
Crime rates rose nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. State data shows that the increase in violent crime in L.A. County in 2022 was less dramatic than in many other California counties, including San Francisco, Sacramento, Riverside, and Orange.
Nevertheless, Hochman blames Gascón for the county’s rise in crime.
“I think a district attorney plays a strong factor. It's not the only factor, but a very strong factor in how criminals perceive what's going on in that particular county,” he said. “So when you have a district attorney who comes in on his first day and passes nine of the most pro-criminal blanket policies in DA history, criminals are paying attention.”
Upon taking office in 2021, Gascón implemented sweeping reforms, including no longer prosecuting juveniles as adults, ending cash bail for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, and getting rid of sentencing enhancements.
Hochman said he doesn’t support “blanket policies of mass incarceration,” but he also rejects Gascón’s progressive policies aimed at decarceration.
“I come down to what I call the hard middle, which means you look at each individual case, the defendant, the crime committed, and the impact on the victim to determine who the true threats to our safety are, who needs to be behind bars,” he said.
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Hochman, who ran for California attorney general as a Republican in 2022, criticized Gascón for trying to make the campaign “Democrats versus Republicans.”
“I was a centrist Democrat for 20 years, I was a centrist Republican, and now I’m running as an independent in a nonpartisan election trying to get politics out of the DA’s office, and he’s trying to firmly ensconced politics in the DA’s office,” he said.
Hochman said he changed his affiliation “as each party started to move away from the center.”
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