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Millions of dollars have been raised in this year’s race for Los Angeles County district attorney — but so far, the vast majority of it has been gathered in support of just one of the candidates.
Nathan Hochman, the criminal defense attorney and former federal prosecutor who is challenging incumbent George Gascón for the seat, has raised nearly $3.9 million for his campaign as of Sept. 16. That’s over five times more than Gascón, whose fundraising stands at around $678,000.
Independent groups — those that aren’t affiliated with an official campaign — have spent $1.8 million to support Hochman. So far, there’s been no independent spending to support Gascón.
We’ll break down how we found these numbers and what they actually tell us. But first, let’s back up.
Why is the district attorney’s race such a big deal?
Voters are choosing between two competing visions of criminal justice in L.A. County.
Gascón was elected district attorney in 2020 on his promises to work toward ending decades of mass incarceration and create a fairer criminal justice system. Since taking office, he’s stopped prosecuting many misdemeanors and seeking sentencing enhancements for other crimes.
But increases in property crime and viral videos of smash-and-grab-style robberies have made public safety a major talking point of this election. Recent polling shows that public support for Gascón’s approach has waned — not just in L.A. County, but also in other cities that elected similarly progressive district attorneys.
Hochman has vowed to reverse some of Gascón’s policies. The November election will be a test of whether L.A. voters want that, too.
Now, let’s take a look at the money. Because this is an L.A. County office, all the campaign finance information can be found on the L.A. County registrar’s website.
How much money has each candidate raised?
What we found: We added up the data for Gascón and Hochman going back to 2023, when they first started raising money for their respective campaigns. As of Sept. 16, Gascón raised a total of $678,784. Hochman raised $3,854,313.
What this tells you: These funds — which can be found by searching both candidates’ records here and here — are the engines that keep campaigns going. They pay staff, they buy ads, they cover travel expenses, and a lot more. The sheer amount of money raised isn’t all that matters, but the more funding a candidate has, the more ability they have to get their name and message in front of voters.
In 2020, when Gascón first ran for L.A. County district attorney against incumbent Jackie Lacey, the gap between funding totals was not so wide. Back then, Gascón raised about $1.3 million against Lacey’s $1.6 million.
How much money came from inside vs. outside LA County?
What the numbers tell you: This race could influence elections in other counties that face similar tensions over public safety and criminal justice, so it’s likely attracting money from outside L.A County. These numbers can help you gauge how much outside interest there is in a race and to what degree it’s powering the campaigns. It can also hint at what a candidate’s local support looks like.
What we found: Taking a look here and here, and extracting L.A. County ZIP codes from the data, we see that as of Sept. 10, about $381,000 of Gascón’s funds — or 57% of his total — came from L.A. County. Of the rest of Gascón’s money, about 23% of his total funds came from Bay Area counties and another 8% came from outside California.
For Hochman, the amount raised from within L.A. County was about $3.2 million, or 83% of his total funds.
(Other counties in northern, southern and central California make up the rest of the totals for each candidate, along with contributions that didn't include a ZIP code.)
Where is independent spending coming from?
What this tells you: Who’s willing to spend big to back a candidate? Money raised by candidates comes with restrictions — a maximum of $9,000 per donor for this particular race. But there are no contribution limits for independent groups that want to support or oppose a candidate, as long as they’re not affiliated with an official campaign.
What we found: When we took a closer look at independent spending (by looking here and here and filtering for independent committee spending in the 2024 elections), a few things stuck out:
- Two independent committees spent a combined $469,000 to oppose Gascón:
- Working Families, First Responders, and Small Businesses for a Safer L.A. County Supporting Hochman for District Attorney 2024 sponsored by Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
- Local Residents, Small Businesses and Public Safety Professionals for Safer and Cleaner Neighborhoods Opposing Nithya Raman for City Council 2024, Sponsored by the Los Angeles Police Protective League
- Two independent committees spent more than $1.8 million combined to support Hochman — Los Angeles County Deserves Better, Primarily Formed to Support Nathan Hochman for District Attorney 2024 spent more than $846,000, and the Working Families, First Responders and Small Businesses committee spent more than $970,000.
- So far, no independent money has been spent to support Gascón in this election cycle (although one group had raised $200,000 to support him as of last week).
Will this spending influence voters?
What this tells you: The data we’ve been looking at so far tell us how much financial power these campaigns have and who’s fueling it. You can also think of campaign contributions as quiet endorsements for candidates. Someone may not be putting up a lawn sign, for example, but they are writing a check to support a candidate. If their opinion matters to you, it can help you decide your own vote.
What we found:
- The L.A. Police Protective League and Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs sponsored committees that spent a combined $366,000 to oppose Gascón.
- Other big spenders supporting Hochman include Rick Caruso, a former L.A. mayoral candidate and billionaire developer (who contributed $250,000 to an independent committee supporting Hochman), businessman Alex Von Fürstenberg, son of fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg (he donated $9,000 to the campaign and $30,000 in independent spending), and Jerry Greenberg, Sushi Nozawa’s CEO (who donated a combined $125,000 across two independent committees).
- Hochman’s supporters include people from real estate, corporate law and law enforcement groups, while Gascón’s backers include multiple labor unions.
- Among Gascón’s recognizable supporters: actor Jane Fonda (who donated $1,000), musician John Legend (who donated $5,000) and Gil Garcetti, former L.A. district attorney (who donated $500).
What’s the takeaway?
It’s clear that Hochman’s campaign has a large advantage over Gascón’s so far when focusing on several different spending measures — the amount of money raised, the amount raised from within L.A. County, and independent spending.
Deep-pocketed business leaders and law enforcement unions are spending big to back Hochman (or to oppose Gascón). Gascón is trailing by a wide margin and isn’t receiving nearly the same amount of financial support he had back in 2020.
This may or may not affect how you vote. But it provides a few more dimensions to help you understand this race and others you see on your ballot.
If you want more on this race, check out these resources from LAist: This breakdown of the candidates' visions from Civics and Democracy Correspondent Frank Stoltze, our podcast series on Gascón and our Voter Game Plan guide.
LAist data journalist Maloy Moore contributed to this story.
This series is supported by the American Press Institute.
