Nathan Hochman addresses his supporters at Il Pastiao in Beverly Hills on election night, Nov. 5, 2024. Hochman is challenging incumbent George Gascon to be the District Attorney of Los Angeles County. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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Topline:
Nathan Hochman has won the Los Angeles County District Attorney's race, defeating incumbent George Gascón, according to the Associated Press.
By the numbers: Early returns from the L.A. County Registrar's office showed Hochman receiving more than 1.4 million votes and Gascón around 890,000. That's about 61% of voters backing Hochman and 39% supporting Gascón.
Why it matters: The district attorney is the county’s top prosecutor, determining when to file criminal charges for felony crimes committed throughout the county, as well as misdemeanor crimes committed in the county’s unincorporated areas and all but 10 of its 88 cities. The 10 cities in which the county district attorney does not prosecute misdemeanors (the city attorney does), include Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Monica and Pasadena.
The backstory: When Gascón was voted into office four years ago, he was spurred by a national criminal justice reform movement that gained momentum after the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the protests that followed.
On day one, he introduced a broad set of directives, barring prosecutors from seeking the transfer of juveniles to adult court, filing sentencing enhancements, or charging certain low-level misdemeanors.
Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, has promised to reverse all of Gascón policies in favor of an approach he calls “the hard middle.” He's said he rejects Gascón’s “extreme pro-criminal, decarceration policies.”
As you watch these results, keep in mind
As of 9 p.m. Tuesday, L.A. election officials said 2,106,410 ballots had been returned so far.
There are more than 5.7 million registered voters in L.A. County
Nathan Hochman has won the Los Angeles County District Attorney's race, defeating incumbent George Gascón, according to the Associated Press.
Early returns from the L.A. County Registrar's office showed Hochman receiving more than 1.4 million votes and Gascón around 890,000. That's about 61% of voters backing Hochman and 39% supporting Gascón.
The race to run the largest prosecutors' office in the country was a contentious one, as Hochman and others pushed back hard on policies Gascón put in place when he was elected four years ago.
Speaking to supporters on Election Night at a gathering in Beverly Hills, Hochman said deputy district attorneys working under Gascón had been trying to serve justice with their hands tied behind their backs.
Nathan Hochman speaks with the media at Platinum Equity in Beverly Hills, the site of his election party on Nov. 5, 2024.
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“I’m here to tell you your hands will no longer be tied,” he said.
He added later: “We will go ahead and get back in the business of justice. Making crimes illegal again.”
Gascón, who was seeking a second four-year term, was seen as a darling of the criminal justice reform movement. But the political conversation, particularly in this election year, has changed from a focus on reform to public safety.
On Wednesday morning, he released a statement conceding the race to Hochman.
“The rightward shift across America last night is heartbreaking," Gascón said. "Democrats have a long road ahead, but the work is more vital than ever and our commitment will not waver. Nevertheless, I have called Mr. Hochman and wish him the best as Los Angeles County’s next District Attorney.
He continued: "I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past four years and grateful to the communities who have been and will always be the heart of criminal justice reform.”
Hochman addressed his victory in a brief message posted on X.
"The voters of Los Angeles County have spoken and have said enough is enough of D.A. Gascon’s pro-criminal extreme policies; they look forward to a safer future," he wrote on the platform. "As D.A., I look forward to representing all of the people, whether they voted for me or not, since their safety will be my responsibility."
Who is Hochman?
Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney, has promised to reverse all Gascón policies in favor of an approach he calls “the hard middle.” He has said repeatedly that he rejects Gascón’s “extreme pro-criminal, decarceration policies.”
He has added: “I also reject the extreme mass incarceration policies.”
Outside committees working to help elect Hochman raised more than $7.2 million compared to $605,000 for Gascón, according to an analysis conducted by LAist.
Hochman was born and raised in Beverly Hills. He attended Brown University and Stanford Law School. As a federal prosecutor in L.A., one of his biggest cases involved prosecuting corrupt sheriff’s deputies.
He entered private practice in 1997, and has mostly worked as a white collar defense attorney. In 2008, then-President George W. Bush appointed Hochman to oversee the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. He served for a year.
In one of his most high-profile cases, Hochman defended former L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, who was convicted of obstruction of justice in 2017 for covering up the abuse of inmates at Men’s Central Jail.
In 2020, when some people were calling for reduced funding for law enforcement, Hochman and his brother created the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Foundation, an independent group that raises money for the county department.
From 2011 to 2016, Hochman was president of the L.A. City Ethics Commission, a volunteer position. The panel enforces city campaign finance and lobbying rules.
In 2022, he was the Republican nominee for California Attorney General, losing to Democrat Rob Bonta. Last year, Hochman changed his party affiliation to No Party Preference.
How we got here
When Gascón was voted into office four years ago, he was spurred by a national criminal justice reform movement that gained momentum after the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the protests that followed.
Although many other progressive district attorneys were voted into office at that time, Gascón was the most widely known.
George Gascón at an election party in Los Angeles ahead of the polls closing, on Nov. 5, 2024.
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One major goal of criminal justice reform has been to help reduce mass incarceration. Gascón's reforms fundamentally changed how L.A. prosecutors operate.
On the day he was sworn in, he introduced a broad set of directives. Prosecutors would no longer be allowed to seek the transfer of juveniles to adult court. They could no longer seek sentencing enhancements, which let prosecutors add many more years to someone’s potential sentence for things like carrying a gun or acting on behalf of a gang, or file charges for certain low level misdemeanors.
And they could no longer seek the death penalty (California has a moratorium on carrying out executions while Gov. Gavin Newsom is in office, but that does not prevent prosecutors from seeking capital punishment for a defendant when they go to trial).
Those changes rankled some of the prosecutors in the District Attorney's Office. Three weeks after Gascón took office, the union representing L.A. County prosecutors filed a lawsuit seeking to block some of his directives. Some of them ran against him in the March primary.
The effort to oust Gascón from office has been vocal, with his detractors blaming him for an increase in local crime — property crime in particular — including high-profile smash-and-grab robberies at retail stores.
Some experts have said placing that blame on Gascón — or any district attorney — isn't quite fair because they have less of an influence on overall crime rates than do police.
Violent crime rose 7% in 2023 from 2020 in L.A., the year Gascón took office, according to the state Department of Justice. More recently, violent crime has been trending downward.
Property crime jumped 20% during the same time frame and continues to rise.
One major factor affecting those numbers is the COVID-19 pandemic, during which crime jumped dramatically. It's also noteworthy that the same crime trends are being seen across the country in big cities with and without progressive prosecutors.
LAist reporters Erin Stone and Robert Garrova contributed to this story.
Listen to Frank Stoltze and Antonia Cereijido break down the LA DA race results on Imperfect Paradise here
Nathan Hochman defeated incumbent George Gascón in the Los Angeles County District Attorney race. Many see the outcome as a bellwether for the criminal justice reform movement nationwide. LAist Correspondent Frank Stoltze breaks down the LA DA race results and helps us understand what Hochman's decisive victory and Gascón’s loss means. Also, Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido speaks with Alyssa Kress from the Prosecutors Alliance of California (PAC), a nonprofit that supports progressive prosecutors including Gascón, about the future of the broader social justice movement and their strategy moving forward.
George Gascón’s reelection loss and whether there’s a future for the progressive prosecutors' movement
Nathan Hochman defeated incumbent George Gascón in the Los Angeles County District Attorney race. Many see the outcome as a bellwether for the criminal justice reform movement nationwide. LAist Correspondent Frank Stoltze breaks down the LA DA race results and helps us understand what Hochman's decisive victory and Gascón’s loss means. Also, Imperfect Paradise host Antonia Cereijido speaks with Alyssa Kress from the Prosecutors Alliance of California (PAC), a nonprofit that supports progressive prosecutors including Gascón, about the future of the broader social justice movement and their strategy moving forward.
Mariana Dale
explores and explains the forces that shape how and what kids learn whether they’re at school or visiting the library.
Published September 4, 2026 5:00 AM
The Lynwood Library renovation includes a new area for teens.
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Topline:
The Lynwood Library has reopened after its first major renovation in almost 50 years. New skylights brighten the space and there are dedicated areas for teens, kids, studying and community meetings.
Why it matters: The renovation was the first major construction project since the library was built in 1977. “ It does give you a feeling that our community matters,” said Danielle Trujillo, who grew up nearby and visited the library often.
Why now: Supervisor Janice Hahn said she advocated for part of L.A. County’s federal COVID-19 pandemic relief dollars to fund five library renovations in District 4, including the Lynwood Library.
The Lynwood Library has reopened after its first major renovation in almost 50 years. New skylights brighten the space and there are dedicated areas for teens, kids, studying and community meetings.
“It does give you a feeling that our community matters,” said Danielle Trujillo, who grew up nearby and visited the library often. “That we deserve new books, that we deserve new furniture, that we deserve to be in a space that's welcoming, spacious, and inviting.”
The $8 million project began in 2024 and closed the library for about two years. The branch reopened Aug. 20 and celebrated with a ribbon-cutting Thursday.
“ I'm so happy to have this open, and a place for our community to gather, to connect,” said Lynwood Mayor Gabriela Camacho, who also brought her twins to the library.
Gabrielle Fata and her 3-year-old son Zennett can walk to the library from their home.
“ I just try to get him interested in loving books at a young age, so I just like him being around all the books and all the letters and everything,” Fata said.
Local leaders, including Lynwood Mayor Gabriela Camacho, Assemblymember José Luis Solache, Supervisor Janice Hahn and LA County Library Director Skye Patrick cut the ribbon to celebrate the completion of the Lynwood Library renovation.
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How the funding came together
Supervisor Janice Hahn said she advocated for part of L.A. County’s federal COVID-19 pandemic relief dollars to fund five library renovations in District 4, including the Lynwood Library. The southeast L.A. County city is home to about 64,000 people.
“I still believe that libraries are a real treasure for communities and schools,” Hahn said. “I know a lot of young people get their information online and are on the internet, but I really believe libraries are still an important part of the fabric of a community.”
The 12,000-square-foot Lynwood Library renovation includes a new area for teens.
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The renovations were originally planned to be completed by November 2025. Hahn said she wasn’t sure what caused the delay.
“Wish it could've been open earlier, but [there] are always construction issues and problems that I think we face with almost everything we try to do in the county of Los Angeles,” Hahn said.
‘A library for the people’
LA County Library Director Skye Patrick said when the Lynwood Library was first built in 1977, the idea was to keep the space dark to preserve the books inside.
“The library is … no longer just about the books. It's about the people.” Patrick said. “We want the space to be welcoming, we want it to be open, we want it to have a lot of airflow through it.”
"I like how there's separate sections for different people to do things," said Jennifer Estrada, an eighth grader at a nearby middle school. "There's the study rooms, you could go with your friends or if you just wanna be alone."
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Jennifer Estrada is an eighth grader at Hosler Middle School, less than a mile away from the library, and has started visiting twice a week to study and hang out with friends since it reopened.
“ I feel like it's very open. You could be you in here,” Estrada said.
Trujillo, who is now the adult teen librarian here, said she’s excited to see the next generation embrace the library.
“ I try not to show it as much 'cause I don't wanna scare them away,” Trujillo said. “But I'm really excited that the teens are coming into the space and that they're happy with it.”
"Libraries have transformed from just checking out books," said librarian Danielle Trujillo. "People come in and they hang out with their friends, or they're studying for school."
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Trujillo said in addition to the teen space, the Spanish language and manga collections are also popular.
She said the library also welcomes feedback.
“If anyone ever wants to come talk to us and share some ideas that they have for the library, we're completely open to that,” Trujillo said.
Fata said her son Zennett’s favorite books skew spooky, including Aaron Reynolds' “Creepy” series and Rhode Montijo’s Skeletown series.
Makenna Cramer
leads LAist’s unofficial Big Bear bald eagle beat and has been covering the nest for several seasons.
Published September 4, 2026 5:00 AM
Jackie and Shadow in Big Bear's famous bald eagle nest on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026.
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Topline:
Friday is California Wildlife Day in remembrance of Jackie, one of Big Bear’s famous bald eagles who died last month.
Why now: State Sen. Tony Strickland, whose 36th district includes parts of L.A. and Orange counties, introduced the idea with a resolution that passed last week with unanimous, bipartisan support.
Why it matters: Strickland told LAist he felt it was fitting to make Jackie an official part of California history. He added that the fan community’s response to the resolution has been even bigger than expected, which he said shows how many people deeply care about Jackie’s story. “At a time when there's plenty of issues that divide us, Jackie represents something that almost everyone can appreciate — the beauty of wildlife,” he said. “The bald eagle represents freedom, strength, resilience and the American spirit, and that's exactly what Jackie was.”
The backstory: Jackie died on Aug. 10 after being rescued in Big Bear and getting weeks of intensive care for severe anemia at the Ojai Raptor Center. Jackie took the internet by storm by starring in a popular YouTube livestream that has been run by Friends of Big Bear Valley, an environmental and educational nonprofit, for more than a decade.
What's next: The resolution calls on Californians to celebrate Jackie’s memory and the importance of protecting the state’s wildlife for generations to come.
Remembering Jackie: Friends of Big Bear Valley and multiple other organizations in the area are planning an event to honor Jackie on Oct. 3. The location and exact details have not yet been announced.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
Kavish Harjai
was in the LAist studios listening to the forum Thursday night.
Published September 3, 2026 7:50 PM
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman separately explain their environmental positions at a mayoral forum held Thursday at L.A. Trade Tech in downtown Los Angeles.
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Topline:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass painted herself as a proven fighter for environmental justice issues. Her challenger, L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman, said progress on environmental goals has stalled in City Hall.
Key topics: The candidates each had about 45 minutes to individually answer questions from Erin Stone, an LAist senior reporter focused on climate and environment.
Here are some of the topics they covered:
Extreme heat
Emergency preparedness and recovery
Protecting communities from pollution
Water
Public transit
LAist will have more coverage and analysis of the conversations Friday morning.
Topline:
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass described herself as a proven fighter for environmental justice issues. Her challenger, L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman, said progress on environmental goals has stalled in City Hall.
Key topics: The candidates each had about 45 minutes to individually answer questions from Erin Stone, an LAist senior reporter focused on climate and environment.
Ahead of election, Trump admin still has big plans
By Jude Joffe-Block | NPR
Published September 3, 2026 6:43 PM
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Topline:
The Trump administration is taking steps to advance a mysterious and unprecedented project to compile state-by-state lists of people it has decided are eligible citizens over the age of 18 who can vote in the upcoming midterm election.
About the timing: Trump officials will no longer meet its own deadline to publish that information on a portal on Friday, which is 60 days before Election Day.
Where things stand: Department of Justice attorneys told opposing counsel in two separate lawsuits that instead of meeting the Sept. 4 deadline, they would give 48-hours notice to plaintiffs' counsel before the state citizenship portal was launched, according to recent court filings.
Why this matters: The U.S. has never attempted to create a comprehensive list of American citizens before this administration. Maintaining voter lists is the responsibility of states, not the federal government, as the Constitution dictates that states control elections. But President Trump has repeatedly taken steps to try to exert executive control over elections.
The Trump administration is taking steps to advance a mysterious and unprecedented project to compile state-by-state lists of people it has decided are eligible citizens over the age of 18 who can vote in the upcoming midterm election. But it will no longer meet its own deadline to publish that information on a portal on Friday, which is 60 days before Election Day.
Department of Justice attorneys told opposing counsel in two separate lawsuits that instead of meeting the Sept. 4 deadline, they would give 48-hours notice to plaintiffs' counsel before the state citizenship portal was launched, according to recent court filings.
The U.S. has never attempted to create a comprehensive list of American citizens before this administration. Maintaining voter lists is the responsibility of states, not the federal government, as the Constitution dictates that states control elections. But President Trump has repeatedly taken steps to try to exert executive control over elections.
The basis for the federal government creating state citizenship lists is an executive order Trump signed on March 31. A lower court had blocked implementation of key parts of that executive order in 23 states and Washington, D.C., but the Supreme Court stayed that injunction late last month, opening the door for the plan to be implemented after all.
The March 31 executive order directs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration to create "State Citizenship Lists" of individuals the agencies believe are citizens in each state, and send those lists to state officials "no fewer than 60 days before each regularly scheduled Federal election."
The next section of the executive order says the U.S. attorney general will prioritize investigating and prosecuting state and local officials who issue federal ballots to anyone not eligible to vote.
"States here have a strong incentive to actually use these lists to try to avoid federal investigation," said Jules Torti, counsel at the nonprofit Protect Democracy, in an interview with NPR. "But we know that these lists are going to be based on really inaccurate data. So the risk of disenfranchisement here is really, really palpable."
The privacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center, along with individual voters, filed a motion Thursday asking a federal judge in Maryland to block the administration from creating the citizenship lists and publishing them on a portal. Specifically, they seek to block a June 8 implementation memo authored by USCIS director Joseph Edlow that outlines the plan.
The motion, which was brought by Protect Democracy, along with another nonprofit legal group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, argues the administration's plans to share Americans' personal data between agencies and then disseminate the data to states violates multiple federal laws, including the Privacy Act, the Social Security Act and the Administrative Procedures Act. Under the Privacy Act, federal agencies must give the public 30 days notice and the opportunity to comment before they collect and disseminate Americans' personal data for a new purpose.
The EPIC lawsuit also argues the government does not have access to accurate, up-to-date information on American citizens, especially those who move frequently, have changed their names, or are foreign-born. For example, Social Security's citizenship data often isn't updated when people naturalize, and the SAVE data system, operated by USCIS, frequently doesn't include records for people who became citizens as minors when their parents naturalized.
Torti said it is "deeply concerning" that the administration is still planning to go ahead with the creation of citizenship lists but is no longer going to meet the deadline, since that means the lists will be completed even closer to Election Day.
"It means additional chaos, additional confusion for the state election officials and just for voters," Torti said. "And I think that's the point. The point here is to create chaos in advance of the election."
Neither the Department of Justice, nor the Department of Homeland Security, which is tasked with compiling the citizenship lists, responded to NPR's request for comment.
The June 8 implementation memo stated that the portal for state election officials would be available around June 30 and a second portal where citizens could check their information would be available at a later date – but that deadline passed without further updates.
The federal government has secured a domain for the state citizenship lists portal. While the portal is not currently online, it was briefly live in recent days with a landing page that said "Coming Soon," according to court filings.
Lawyers representing Democratic party groups that had challenged the March 31 executive order in a separate lawsuit filed in April, accused the administration in a recent filing of failing to notify the court or the parties about its plans to move forward with the state citizenship portal. They asked the judge to require the federal government to give immediate updates about their plans to implement the executive order.
This latest legal battle over the administration's plans to compile state citizenship lists comes as the Department of Homeland Security is ramping up its efforts to analyze state voter rolls with the goal of identifying potential noncitizens who are registered to vote. Previous audits have found instances of noncitizens casting ballots to be incredibly rare.
Additionally, last week, ICE published a request for information on a federal procurement site seeking vendors who can compile public voter rolls and voter history files from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories, "to support Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) fraud detection and data segmentation activities."
NPR's Hansi Lo Wang contributed reporting to this story. Copyright 2026 NPR
