The Brief

Over the last 25 years, Los Angeles County voters have elected just two people from the public defender's office to a Superior Court judge seat. But there’s a growing push toward getting more people with defense backgrounds on the bench.

This year, a slate of three defense attorneys calling themselves the “Defenders of Justice” is hoping to win seats on the bench. The candidates are: La Shae Henderson, George Turner and Ericka Wiley.

Historically, voters have overwhelmingly elected judges with prosecutorial experience. And although some California governors, including Gavin Newsom and Jerry Brown, have made it a point to appoint defense lawyers to judicial seats, the L.A. County Superior Court bench is comprised of many more former prosecutors.

Criminal justice reform advocates say judges with defense backgrounds — either public or private — can balance out the tough-on-crime rhetoric that has led to mass incarceration. And they say former defense attorneys can bring diversity to a bench that now has a range of alternatives to incarceration at its disposal.

'Defenders of Justice' candidates

As a deputy public defender for 18 years, La Shae Henderson said she’s seen how the criminal justice system touches lives, not just for the defendants, judges and lawyers, but also the families.

It’s part of the reason Henderson tried to bring a client’s full story into the courtroom, she said.

“This is a human being. This is a life. This is a person ... they’re struggling right now, give them a second chance,” said Henderson, who is now an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University and teaches juvenile rights.

She remembered a client who had been charged with a municipal code violation for selling oranges in front of a business. The client couldn’t afford to pay the fine and slipped her a written prayer in court.

“And I just stood up and I said, ‘You know what, she’s not going to be convicted today … ’ and the case got dismissed,” she said. “Just seeing my client struggle and seeing what they go through has really touched my heart that we need more diversity on the bench.

“We need people that understand struggle and that will listen to the stories and care,” Henderson said.

Henderson is one of three current or former deputy public defenders running under the Defenders of Justice campaign, all of whom say they hope to transform the judiciary by getting more judges with defense backgrounds on the bench.

There are five candidates with public defender backgrounds running for judge seats this March. All of the candidates took part in L.A. Forward and La Defensa’s judicial academy, a month-long workshop that trains lawyers how to run judicial campaigns.

While more than a dozen judges with backgrounds as public and/or private defense attorneys have been appointed by governors in the past 25 years, L.A. County voters have elected just two from the public defender's office during that time.

Deputy Public Defender George Turner said he would like to add momentum to that movement. He’s in charge of a mobile unit that works to clear the criminal records of unhoused people who sometimes struggle to find housing because of minor convictions on their record.

“Literally, the overwhelming majority of my clients are people who suffer from diagnosed and undiagnosed mental health issues,” Turner told LAist.

Superior Court judge candidate George Turner speaks at a Defenders of Justice campaign event.

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Defenders of Justice

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Turner said he believes the court system is failing miserably at helping people with mental illness. He said his clients who may qualify for a diversion program because of a mental health issue often have to wait months for an evaluation to prove it.

If he’s elected to the bench, Turner said he’d like to see people get mental health treatment up front instead of having to spend months or longer in jail cells while their conditions deteriorate. He also said he thinks judges should have to see the conditions incarcerated people are subject to in L.A. County by visiting local jails once a quarter.

“The primary goal is not to cycle people in and out of Los Angeles County jail. But the primary goal is to make sure that people get access to resources,” Turner said.

Ericka Wiley agrees. A deputy public defender for 23 years, she said mental illness has been common among her clients. Historically, she said, “there was this strange idea that you could punish away behavior, even if that behavior was based on an uncontrollable mental illness.”

Wiley and her cohort said it’s important that judges take advantage of new laws and diversion programs that steer people living with mental illness and drug use issues into treatment instead of prison or jail. And sometimes, they see judges who are reluctant to employ those programs.

Wiley and others on the ticket say it’s those diversion programs and updated laws that changed their ideas about running.

“Certainly I did not see myself being a part of a system which made it difficult for me to help people in that condition, so the changes in the law are really the impetus for me,” Wiley said.

And while a substantial number of their clients deal with mental health and substance use issues, all candidates on the Defenders of Justice slate said they wanted to see a more involved and observant judiciary no matter what the defendant’s struggles are.

“If you come out of this robotic, we-punish-and-this-is-how-I’ve-been-doing-it-for-years, (mentality), you’re going to miss things,” Henderson said. “But if you come into it listening and being open and looking at everything you’re seeing, you’ll make a better decision.”

The Stanley Mosk Courthouse in Downtown L.A. is one of the nation’s busiest trial courts.

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David Wagner/LAist

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A turning point?

Some public defense lawyers are reluctant to run for judicial seats because they’ve seen the judiciary work against their clients. Dan Simon, a law professor at the University of Southern California, said the American public is pretty punitive and often likes to see pro-prosecution judges elected.

But there are signs that might be changing, according to Simon, both for the public and the judges they elected.

“There have been some interesting sort of retrospective realizations by judges about having sat on the bench throughout this era we call mass incarceration and feeling quite self-conscious about their contribution to it,” Simon said.

Wiley said she’s seen a growing desire in society to address underlying issues instead of leaning heavily into the tough-on-crime rhetoric that’s filled jails and prisons with people living with mental illness.

“I think that electing judges, appointing judges with the background, lived-experience and willingness to apply the law as it currently stands, which allows us to help people, that we’ll see a turning point,” Wiley said.

“I’m hoping I can be a part of that.”

There are 10 Superior Court offices up for election in the March 5 primary, which is the last day to vote in person, drop your mail-in ballot in a ballot box, or postmark your mail-in ballot.

In order to win, a candidate must receive more than 50% of votes in March. If no candidate gains a majority of votes, the two front-runners will compete again in November.

If you want to know more about all the candidates, check out our Voter Game Plan guide on L.A. Superior Court judges.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that they won’t pursue the death penalty for Nick Reiner in the killings of his parents, actor-director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, who were stabbed at their Los Angeles home late last year.

Nick Reiner, 32, was charged with first-degree murder on Dec. 16, two days after the stunning killings of the couple, ages 78 and 70. A grand jury allegation from this summer said he was lying in wait before killing them.

Special circumstances in the allegations against Nick Reiner made him eligible for the death penalty, but Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the issue would be deferred while his office decided whether to pursue it. Those circumstances include multiple killings and the use of a dangerous weapon, a knife.

Hochman said his office did a thorough review, including speaking Rob and Michele Reiner’s families and evaluating mitigating factors in Nick Reiner’s favor, before reaching its decision.

The district attorney said the maximum sentence Reiner will be eligible to receive if convicted will be life without the possibility of parole.

Nick Reiner has not entered a plea after two court hearings, but his former defense attorney Alan Jackson said adamantly shortly after resigning from the case that “pursuant to the laws of California, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder.”null

Jackson had to withdraw for undisclosed reasons that he said were beyond his and the client’s control, and a public defender took over for him.

$29 million to renovate a gym at a Santa Barbara college in Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón’s district.

$13 million for a farmers market and food innovation hub in wealthy Marin County, where Gov. Gavin Newsom lives.

$3 million to renovate the San Jose Giants’ minor league baseball stadium in Santa Clara County.

California lawmakers doled out $1.3 billion in handouts for their legislative districts with almost zero public scrutiny or input during an annual budgeting process that allows legislators and the governor to hand-pick funding recipients in private.

The money, often known as earmarks or “pork-barrel projects,” is commonplace in California and elsewhere, even in years when the state faces huge budget deficits. The practice allows lawmakers to tout their accomplishments and woo voters.

The earmark process is so secretive that few know why some projects make the cut and others don’t, raising equity and transparency concerns, even among lawmakers. Critics argue that it allows elected officials to play favorites.

“(It) is done all behind closed doors,” said Julie Baker, CEO of California for the Arts. “It is somewhat inequitable … to have a grant making process that everyone’s competing over and then have a process that’s non-transparent.”

Here’s how earmarks work: The leaders in the California Assembly and Senate, both Democrats, allow their colleagues to submit private wish-lists for funds with a suggested spending cap the leaders set. Then billions of dollars for hundreds of projects suddenly appear in a bill heard just days before lawmakers leave for the year, leaving little time for the public to weigh in. Lawmakers don’t put their names on the earmarks, making it hard to identify who requested what.

This year, Limón loosely capped Senate Democrats’ requests at $5 million each, said Sen. Dave Cortese, a San Jose Democrat who secured $6.5 million for his district. Lawmakers do not share their funding requests with each other, he said — at least not before they take credit for them in press releases or ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

“It's a confidential process between each office and leadership,” he told CalMatters.

But even he bemoaned the opaque nature of it.

“Why couldn’t we do this process a little earlier and get our requests into subcommittees so the public could just see what’s going on?” Cortese said. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of here.”

‘Why did I spend all that time and energy?’

The vast majority of the funding goes to urban counties such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, which are represented by powerful Democrats, and to other pet projects in Democratic leaders’ districts. Areas that are represented by Republicans typically get little to nothing.

This year, 17 counties, mostly lower population rural counties represented by Republicans, did not appear to receive any earmark funding.

“The leadership decides the major portions of the budget,” said Sen. Roger Niello, a Roseville Republican and vice chair of the Senate budget committee. “That is frustrating, but it is the system that we have.”

CalMatters compiled the earmarks in the budget measure Assembly Bill 113 and used Digital Democracy’s Find your legislators tool to determine which county and legislative district each project falls in.

More than $550 million — 42% of all earmarks identified by CalMatters — went to non-governmental organizations, mostly nonprofits, according to the analysis. It includes at least $93 million for arts projects, museums and murals, as well as funding for immigration services, land conservation and housing and homelessness.

The rest went to city and county governments for infrastructure including parks, community pools, wildfire mitigation and road repairs.

CalMatters reached out to Newsom, Limón, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and more than 20 other lawmakers to ask for a list of their funding requests. Few provided them.

Newsom, Rivas and Limón declined to answer questions about specific projects but told CalMatters in general statements that they are proud of the earmarks.

In a statement, Newsom spokesperson Tara Gallegos said the funding in this year’s budget will “make a lasting, meaningful difference in communities across California.”

“From supporting our natural resources, and improving recreation centers to strengthening the arts and expanding food access, these additional investments reflect a continued commitment to building stronger, healthier, and more vibrant communities for all Californians,” the statement read.

Proponents of earmarks say they empower state lawmakers to prioritize projects with urgent needs in their districts instead of funneling the money through lengthy grant applications. The earmarks are also just a sliver of the state’s $352 billion budget, they noted.

“My message to (state agencies) is, ‘You guys take the other 99.9% and leave this fraction of a percent to us,’” Cortese said. “I’ll help target some real need in these districts that you are never going to see in an office in Sacramento.”

Lawmakers gather on the Assembly floor during the final days of session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Aug. 31, 2026.

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Fred Greaves

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CalMatters

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But critics bashed state leaders for finding $1.3 billion for earmarks when the state has struggled to backfill major federal cuts to healthcare. State leaders this year relied on windfall revenue from an AI-driven economic boom, some tax increases and suspending payments to schools and state reserves to balance the budget and delay deep healthcare cuts to next year.

“They’ve said, ‘Look … there's no extra money to spend,’ and then a half billion dollars comes out in the last 48 hours of the session,” said Geoff Green, CEO of CalNonprofits, which represents thousands of nonprofits statewide. “For entities that were working through what we considered normal processes through the entirety of the session, to then see this come out at the last second, it feels like, well, why did I spend all that time and energy?”

Susan Shelley, vice president of communications at the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, accused lawmakers of handing money out to their supporters at the last moment.

“From a taxpayer perspective, we don’t have the money for this,” Shelley said.

Dance troupes, museums and MMA fighters

The biggest allocation this year was $125 million to help buy and transform a defunct Alameda County horse track into a public park — a Newsom priority. Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair Buffy Wicks and Senate Housing Committee Chair Jesse Arreguín, both Oakland Democrats, championed the funding.

Some earmarks benefited groups with wealthy backers. The state gave $25 million to the Innovative Genomics Institute, a UC Berkeley-based genome engineering research facility in Wicks and Arreguín’s districts whose funders include the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Li Ka Shing Foundation and the United States Department of Defense.

Other earmarks include:

• $20 million to help build a facility for the Jewish Family and Children’s Services Holocaust Center in San Francisco, which is backed by dozens of foundations and endowment funds. Executive director Anita Friedman said the endowments only fund roughly 2% of its budget.
• $15 million to renovate the police and firefighters memorials in Sacramento’s Capital Park
• $1 million for the state’s retirement fund for mixed martial arts fighters, currently funded through ticket and vanity plate sales.

Another $86 million went to arts projects, museums and dance troupes — more than 40% of them in San Francisco.

That includes $3 million to the ODC Dance Company, whose founder Brenda Way was inducted into the California Hall of Fame by Newsom and first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom; $2.8 million to the Center for the Art of Translation backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Hawthornden Foundation; and $400,000 to the San Francisco Mime Troupe.

It’s unclear who advocated for those earmarks. Democratic San Francisco Assemblymember Matt Haney said he did not request any of them. Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, both San Francisco Democrats, did not respond to requests for comment from CalMatters.

Green, of CalNonprofit, said he worries the money is not reaching those with the most acute needs, but those with the best relationships with lawmakers.

“The capacity of a large, well-staffed institute to access resources is just a completely different universe than a smaller, volunteer, community-based organization in some more rural parts of the state,” he said, adding that the recipients appear to be “folks who have relationships already.”

Relationships matter

Relationships do matter to Cortese. Among the projects he requested funding for, only one — Ashes to Beauty, which received $750,000 — is relatively new to him. He said he’s known the other nonprofits he sought funding for dating to his days as a San Jose city councilmember in the 2000s.

“If some new group came along and they seemed hopeful … but I didn’t know of them very well, I hadn’t seen their work too much in the community, I’m probably not going to entrust them with $1 million or $800,000,” he said. “It’s not a matter of any kind of favoritism.”

Cortese said his office keeps a long list of requests for funding and considers which groups are “lifting up the greater good of the community.”

Cortese asked for and received $2.1 million for First-Tee Silicon Valley, which teaches golf and leadership to high-risk kids in marginalized neighborhoods; $2.6 million to environmental nonprofit Our City Forest; and $1 million for Amigos de Guadalupe, an immigration services nonprofit.

Several earmarks went to nonprofits with ties to the governor. The Redwood High School Foundation, which funds Newsom’s high school alma mater, received $4 million for a “capital project.” Another $250,000 went to Kiss the Ground, a regenerative agriculture nonprofit whose 2020 documentary featured Newsom.

A total of $3.86 million went to the Alliance for Community Empowerment, a Los Angeles nonprofit that serves trauma and poverty survivors. Its founder, Michelle Miranda, sat on a board of community advisers to Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, an Encino Democrat who chairs the budget committee.

Gabriel’s spokesperson Alicia Isaacs-Lee did not address specific projects but said Assembly Democrats fought for “smart, targeted, one-time investments” in healthcare, food banks, legal service providers, fire departments and nonprofits.

Homeless shelter City of Refuge Sacramento received $1.8 million to open two more homes to serve children, co-founder Rachelle Ditmore told CalMatters. She is a close friend of Sen. Angelique Ashby, a Sacramento Democrat who helped the shelter secure $8 million in 2023. Democratic Assemblymember Maggy Krell, who also represents the area, donated $10,000 from her campaign account to Ditmore’s nonprofit in August 2025.

But Ditmore told CalMatters that the governor, who signed an executive order on human trafficking at City of Refuge, may have requested the funding this year.

“This is an authentic place and I’m grateful for history, but also love that this was directed by other eyes who were able to see the value,” Ditmore told CalMatters in an email.

Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, a Los Angeles Democrat, secured $13.5 million in earmarks this year, including $500,000 for the Los Angeles Black Workers Center, which she co-founded, according to a list provided by her spokesperson Paulette Thornton.

The center is the only one in the area serving Black workers, and the funding will connect Black residents to quality jobs, Thornton said.

Rural, Republican-led counties get less

Los Angeles County, where nearly a quarter of all Californians live, received at least $300 million in earmarks this year — just under a quarter of the total and more than any other county, data analysis shows.

Santa Barbara County, Limón’s home county with a population of 450,000, received at least $72.8 million in earmarks, more than any other similarly sized county. Republican-dominated Tulare County, by comparison, received just $200,000 for its 485,000 residents.

The contrast reflects the power of leadership in Sacramento, said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College.

“Part of the power … is the ability to get benefits for the district, and it’s not surprising that the legislative leaders tend to do pretty well in that respect,” Pitney said.

Last year, a quarter of the earmarks CalMatters identified — more than $100 million — went to the district of former Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, a Santa Rosa Democrat.

This year, CalMatters identified $83.7 million in earmarks benefiting Limón’s district, including the $29 million gym renovation. Others include:

• $6 million to acquire and rehabilitate a historical building that housed nonprofit La Casa de la Raza
• $5 million to restore Pershing Park in Santa Barbara
• $3.3 million for a community pool in the city of Carpinteria
• $3 million for a high school community aquatics center.

Rivas’ district received just over $10 million in earmarks, including $2.8 million for a regional soccer complex in Salinas, $2.5 million for a recreational center in King City and $525,000 for arts and culture in Watsonville. His district overlaps with that of Sen. John Laird, a Santa Cruz Democrat who chairs the budget committee.

Laird’s district received $36.9 million, including:

• $10 million for expanding public access to the PG&E-owned North Ranch property
• $618,000 for highway traffic enforcement on the Bixby Bridge
• $250,000 to the San Luis Obispo Beaver Brigade, a nonprofit advocating for beavers.

Gabriel’s district saw at least $7 million in earmarks, including $2.5 million to Mid Valley YMCA, $500,000 to Los Angeles youth film nonprofit Kids in the Spotlight and $200,000 to social services group Family Rescue Center.

Niello told CalMatters that GOP senators were only given $1 million each in earmarks to distribute.

“That means that I’m not able to do enough for my district (as) Dave Cortese is for his, and we both have the same size districts. Is that fair? To me, it’s not.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman has missed nearly 3,000 votes since she was first elected in 2020, according to an analysis by LAist — a number that has been criticized by her opponent in the upcoming mayoral race.

A closer look at data from the L.A. city clerk reveals Raman ranks in the middle of the pack of the 15-member council when it comes to votes missed. She was eighth among her colleagues when it came to votes missed so far this year.

Last year she ranked third. In 2024, she ranked sixth.

The vast majority of those votes were unanimous or near-unanimous among the other council members, meaning her vote on those matters would not have changed the outcomes.

Still, the campaign of her mayoral opponent — incumbent Karen Bass — has stressed that the missed votes matter.

"This isn't just missing a few votes, it's about six years of Nithya Raman not showing up — for constituents wanting encampments outside of schools cleaned up or voting to make it cheaper to film here,” said Alex Stack, Bass’ campaign spokesperson.

“If you don't show up for your job, you shouldn't get a promotion," he said.

Bass brought up Raman’s City Council meeting absences during a debate earlier this month, and the campaign has since set up a website, titled NoShowNithya, devoted to highlighting those absences.

Raman’s campaign said she was officially excused from many of the meetings because she was appointed to represent L.A. on the Air Quality Management District board, which is charged with reducing local air pollution and improving public health.

Those meetings happened at the same time as some council meetings. The board meets on the last Friday of every month. The City Council meets three times a week — on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“The data shows that Nithya’s attendance is in line with other council members,” said campaign spokesperson Liz Garcia. “These desperate attacks from Mayor Bass will not distract Nithya from campaigning to make LA a city that works and is affordable for everyone."

The numbers

City Councilmember Adrin Nazarian has missed the most votes so far this year — 393 — compared to Raman, who was ranked eighth at 233. Last year, Councilmember Monica Rodriguez ranked first with 631 and Raman ranked third with 556.

In 2024, Rodriguez ranked first with 741. Raman ranked sixth with 575.

Bass isn’t the only one who believes this is an issue.

“Attendance at meetings isn't ceremonial,” said Pomona College Associate Professor of Politics Sara Sadhwani. “It’s where amendments and laws get shaped, it's where budgets get fought over and it's where constituents' priorities either make it into policy or they don’t. So missing that work means missing those leverage points.”

“Generally, the expectation is that you show up for work,” she added.

In January, Bass removed Raman from the Air Quality Management District AQMD board, a role she’d been serving in since 2022 when she was appointed by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Nazarian was appointed to the air quality board to replace Raman.

As for Raman’s absences, her campaign sought to turn the tables on Bass. It pointed to the incumbent’s absences from commission meetings of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

Since joining, the mayor has skipped more than half of the meetings held by the L.A. Homeless Services Authority Commission, according to an LAist review of attendance records, despite the mayor’s insistence that homelessness is her No. 1 issue.

The Raman campaign also pointed to Bass’ absence during the early hours of the Palisades Fire when she was on a diplomatic trip to Ghana.

"This is ironic coming from a mayor who was missing during our city’s most devastating emergencies [and] failed to show up for more than half of LAHSA homelessness meetings,” Garcia said.

Bass’ office told LAist that, regardless of her attendance record, she has kept up to date on what LAHSA has been doing. The regional agency is responsible for managing the region’s homelessness response.

Earlier this month, following LAist’s reporting, Bass announced she was stepping down from the LAHSA Commission.

“It cuts both ways, and it's a reminder that both of these candidates are political insiders and have a track record with the city,” Sadhwani said.

Too many meetings?

The issue of missed meetings points to another question: Does the City Council meet too often? The city charter mandates that the panel meet three times a week. Its counterpart on the county level — the Board of Supervisors — meets once a week even though its budget is far larger.

In addition to deciding who will be L.A.’s mayor, voters in November will decide whether the number of mandated weekly City Council meetings should be modified. The council has placed a proposed change to the city charter that would require only one meeting per week.

The Pitt and Widow's Bay took home the top prizes in television at the Emmy Awards on Monday night. And actor Matthew Rhys became the first person to win in two lead acting categories in one night. Here are our takeaways from the 2026 Emmy Awards — and check out the list of winners and who wore what on the red carpet.

Widow's Bay was the hot comedy property. Drama series recognition was shared more widely. The Apple TV horror/mystery/comedy series Widow's Bay not only won outstanding comedy series, but also brought home awards for lead actor (Matthew Rhys), supporting actress (Kate O'Flynn), supporting actor (Stephen Root), along with writing and directing. The only "major" category it didn't receive an award in is lead actress (which went to Hacks' Jean Smart), where it didn't have an eligible candidate. On the other hand, while The Pitt took home outstanding drama series and Noah Wyle repeated last year's win as lead actor, Rhea Seehorn won lead actress for Pluribus, Allison Janney won supporting actress for The Diplomat, Tom Pelphrey won supporting actor for Task, Vince Gilligan won for writing Pluribus, and Saul Metzstein won for directing Slow Horses.

Matthew Rhys pulls off the double play. Rhys won for lead actor in both the limited series category (for The Beast in Me with Claire Danes) and comedy series (for Widow's Bay). This makes him the first actor to ever win lead performance awards in two categories in the same year. Rhys also won for lead actor in a drama series for his work in The Americans back in 2018, so he's won in three lead categories overall, and that's some serious versatility.

Rhea Seehorn wins an Emmy at last, while Jean Smart wins her last Hacks Emmy. For years, while she was on Better Call Saul, Rhea Seehorn was a frequently cited example of an overlooked performer. She was eventually nominated for her supporting role in that show twice, though she didn't win. In the Apple science fiction show Pluribus, creator Vince Gilligan's follow-up to Saul, Seehorn plays a miserable widowed novelist dealing with the end of humanity as she knows it. This time, she did not have to wait to be recognized. She won her first Emmy for lead actress in a drama for the show's first season. Meanwhile, Jean Smart completed an impressive sweep, winning lead comedy actress for the fifth time — meaning she won every year she was eligible for the now-concluded Hacks. Smart's character, the legendary comedian Deborah Vance, would likely enjoy having gone undefeated.

Host Mariska Hargitay had the time of her life. The opening number was corny and cringe — so much so that it almost came all the way back around to being endearing. But over the course of the evening, Hargitay made jokes about how long her show, Law & Order: SVU, has been on the air, she participated in skits, and she actually showed some chops with her delivery of standard awards banter. She is not a comedian by profession, but she was impressively game, and that may be the most important quality a host can bring. It was a strangely paced evening that ended with what seemed to be Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey trying to fill time, but Hargitay did what she could to keep the energy up.

2026 Emmy Award Winners

Outstanding drama series
WINNER: The Pitt
The Diplomat
The Gilded Age
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Paradise
Pluribus
Slow Horses
Your Friends and Neighbors

Outstanding comedy series

WINNER: Widow's Bay
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Nobody Wants This
Hacks
Margo's Got Money Troubles
Only Murders in the Building
Shrinking

Outstanding limited or anthology series

WINNER: DTF St. Louis
All Her Fault
The Beast In Me
Beef
Love Story

Outstanding variety series

WINNER: The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Saturday Night Live

Outstanding lead actor in a drama series

WINNER: Noah Wyle, The Pitt
Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Mark Ruffalo, Task
Rufus Sewell, The Diplomat

Outstanding lead actress in a drama series

WINNER: Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age
Chase Infiniti, The Testaments
Keri Russell, The Diplomat
Zendaya, Euphoria

Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series

WINNER: Matthew Rhys, Widow's Bay
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Wonder Man
Steve Carell, Rooster
Jason Segel, Shrinking
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series

WINNER: Jean Smart, Hacks
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Elle Fanning, Margo's Got Money Troubles
Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback

Outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie

WINNER: Sally Field, Remarkably Bright Creatures
Claire Danes, The Beast In Me
Carey Mulligan, Beef
Sarah Pidgeon, Love Story
Sarah Snook, All Her Fault

Outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie

WINNER: Matthew Rhys, The Beast In Me
Riz Ahmed, Bait
Jason Bateman, Black Rabbit
Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Oscar Isaac, Beef

Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series

WINNER: Kate O'Flynn, Widow's Bay
Dale Dickey, Widow's Bay
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Michelle Pfeiffer, Margo's Got Money Troubles
Megan Stalter, Hacks
Jessica Williams, Shrinking

Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series

WINNER: Stephen Root, Widow's Bay
Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons
Paul W. Downs, Hacks
Nick Offerman, Margo's Got Money Troubles
Michael Urie, Shrinking
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary

Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series

WINNER: Tom Pelphrey, Task
Patrick Ball, The Pitt
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Shawn Hatosy, The Pitt
Gerran Howell, The Pitt
Jack Lowden, Slow Horses
Carlos Manuel-Vesga, Pluribus

Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series

WINNER: Allison Janney, The Diplomat
Taylor Dearden, The Pitt
Fiona Dourif, The Pitt
Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt
Sepideh Moafi, The Pitt
Julianne Nicholson, Paradise
Karolina Wydra, Pluribus

Outstanding supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie

WINNER: Linda Cardellini, DTF St. Louis
Dakota Fanning, All Her Fault
Laurie Metcalf, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Joy Sunday, DTF St. Louis
Youn Yuh-jung, Beef
Constance Zimmer, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette

Outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie

WINNER: David Harbour, DTF St. Louis
Jason Bateman, DTF St. Louis
Richard Gadd, Half Man
Richard Jenkins, DTF St. Louis
Charles Melton, Beef
Nick Offerman, Death by Lightning

Outstanding directing for a comedy series

WINNER: Hiro Murai, Widow's Bay
Randall Einhorn, Abbott Elementary
Christopher Storer, The Bear
Andrew DeYoung, The Chair Company
Lucia Aniello, Hacks
Mary Lou Belli, The Ms. Pat Show

Outstanding directing for a drama series

WINNER: Saul Metzstein, Slow Horses
Salli Richardson-Whitfield, The Gilded Age
Hanelle M. Culpepper, Paradise
Noah Wyle, The Pitt
Vince Gilligan, Pluribus
Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Task

Outstanding writing for a comedy series

WINNER: Katie Dippold, Widow's Bay
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Tim Robinson, Zach Kanin, The Chair Company
Michael Patrick King, Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, Jen Statsky, Hacks
Anthony King, Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat

Outstanding writing for a drama series

WINNER: Vince Gilligan, Pluribus
Peter Ackerman, Debora Cahn, The Diplomat
Kirsten Pierre-Geyfman, R. Scott Gemmill, The Pitt
Valerie Chu, The Pitt
Will Smith, Slow Horses
Brad Ingelsby, Task

Outstanding reality competition program

WINNER: The Traitors
Dancing With the Stars
RuPaul's Drag Race
Survivor
Top Chef