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Former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman will become the next Los Angeles County District Attorney, replacing incumbent George Gascon.
As of early Wednesday morning, more than half of the ballots had been counted, with Mr. Hochman leading Mr. Gascón by more than 400,000 votes, according to the Associated Press.
Hochman, a former Republican, has described himself as a “strong centrist” candidate who rejects both mass incarceration and the Gascon administration’s “security failures” over the past four years.
“Los Angeles County voters are speaking out and saying they’ve had enough of the Gascón DA’s office’s extreme pro-crime policies. They look forward to a safer future,” Hochman said in a statement early Wednesday morning. said in a statement. “As prosecutor, it is my responsibility to keep all of our citizens safe, whether they voted for me or not, so I look forward to representing all of our citizens.”
Mr. Hoffman, a former Republican who led Mr. Gascon by double digits in recent polls, has the backing of the Deputy District Attorneys Association, police unions and former Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey, whom Mr. Gascon fired in 2020. was.
Hochman’s tougher stance on crimes such as retail theft that have plagued California businesses since the pandemic comes as voters on Tuesday passed Proposition 36, which increases criminal penalties for repeat offenders for theft and drug crimes. , which may have attracted support from more Californians.
Hochman’s skeptics had said Gascón’s expected defeat would put a pause on a progressive agenda of criminal justice and police reform.
But Hochman, a former California attorney general candidate, said in an interview with NBC Los Angeles’ News Conference that he, too, would like to free wrongly convicted people and hold police accountable, but that he would do more than his current job. He declared it efficient.
“I will be the first prosecutor in history to not only have a background as a prosecutor, but also actually be a defense attorney,” Hochman explained. question at the level of jury unanimity. ”
Hochman defeated 10 other candidates in the primary and faced a progressive incumbent in the runoff.
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