Police unions, real estate interests spend big to support Hochman, oust Gascón in DA race

Law enforcement unions and real estate interests are teaming up to fund an expensive campaign to defeat incumbent Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón and elect his challenger Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney who has promised to undo Gascón’s progressive policies.

The numbers dwarf the amount of spending on Gascón’s behalf, a reversal from four years ago when criminal justice reformers from around the country flooded his campaign coffers with money and lifted the one-time cop-turned-reformer to victory.

Gascón is the nation’s most prominent progressive prosecutor and the results of the race may be a bellwether for the criminal justice reform movement nationwide.

Much of the money is going to campaign ads that feature a dystopian L.A. rife with crime and homelessness and that blame Gascón for the problems — unfairly, according to his supporters and criminologists.

Outside committees working to help elect Hochman have raised more than $7.2 million compared to $605,000 for Gascón, according to an analysis conducted by LAist.

A coalition led by the labor union that represents L.A. County sheriff’s deputies leads the way with $1.35 million in contributions to back Hochman.

“This has turned into our most important race in the county,” said Derek Hsieh, executive director of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs. The association also represents district attorney investigators.

“It feels out of control on the streets to first responders,” Hsieh said.

Gascón’s supporters say they have hope despite the outsized spending for Hochman.

“It's still a relatively unknown office and both candidates are relatively unknown,” said the Rev. Zachary Hoover, who leads LA Voice Action, a multi-faith community organization.

He added Hochman would take the office “backward toward tough on crime” policies that harm people of color and poor people.

Who are the donors?

Gascón's agenda includes reducing mass incarceration by shortening prison time for people convicted of non-violent crimes and seeking early release for some people who are already locked up and deemed to not be a danger to the public. And those are some of the reasons why police unions from around L.A. County and beyond are spending to oust him.

The Sacramento-based California Correctional Peace Officers Association — the union that represents state prison guards — has poured in $500,000.

Gascón is also getting opposition within his own office. The union that represents frontline prosecutors who work for Gascón contributed $60,000 to the effort to defeat him in November. The union has been among the district attorney’s sharpest critics — over what some say are his heavy-handed management style as well as his policies.

Longtime Republican donor Gerald Marcil tops real estate interests spending to defeat Gascón. He donated $450,000. Marcil heads Palos Verdes Investments, which owns apartment complexes around L.A.

“This election has the biggest effect on the quality of life in L.A. County of any of the other elections,” Marcil said of the district attorney race. He is joined in six-figure donations by Douglas Emmett Properties and Kilroy Realty.

Billionaire developer Rick Caruso, who built and owns The Grove and The Americana malls, has contributed $250,000 to bounce Gascón. He said the D.A. is to blame for the crime rate.

Violent crime went up 7% in 2023 from 2020 in L.A., the year Gascon 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.

But there are two big caveats. One is COVID. Crime jumped dramatically during the pandemic.

The other is the fact that these are crime trends we’ve seen across the country — in big cities with and without progressive prosecutors.

“People feel uncomfortable in neighborhoods all around Los Angeles,” said Caruso, who ran for L.A. mayor in 2022.

One expert agreed that people feel uncomfortable about crime, but was unwilling to blame Gascón for the crime rate.

“I think that district attorneys, who have a lot of power over individual outcomes, have a much smaller influence on the overall crime rate relative to police,” said Emily Owens, who chairs the criminology department at U.C. Irvine.

She noted the crime rate is relatively low, compared to previous decades, and argued that some of the fear is “based on one or two news stories that whip people up.”

A different politicial environment

Police and real estate interests opposed Gascón when he first ran for office. The difference this time is that support for Gascón is lagging — especially after his weak performance in the primary when he finished first but with only 25% of the vote.

Gascón was elected on a progressive agenda in a year that saw the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis and widespread street protests calling for criminal justice reform nationally.

Gascón attracted support from around the country. George Soros alone contributed $2.25 million. This year, Soros is sitting out.

Soros spokesperson Michael Vachon said Soros’ attention is focused on the presidential contest.

“This reflects the unprecedented stakes facing the nation and should not be misconstrued as an abandonment of Gascòn or other local leaders who are implementing effective and humane approaches to public safety,” Vachon said in a statement. “Los Angeles County District Attorney Gascòn has George Soros’ endorsement."

'An uphill battle' for Gascón

In a poll released earlier this month, Gascón trailed Hochman by a significant margin. The survey from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, found 51% of likely voters favored Hochman and 21% backed Gascón. Twenty-eight percent were undecided.

“Even the most principled of political donors are essentially investors when it comes right down to it,” said Dan Schnur, who teaches political communications at the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley. “If they don’t see that investment as having a likelihood of paying off, they don’t make it.”

When Gascón ran for district attorney four years ago, that was at a “singular moment” for the reform movement, Schnur said.

“Voters were much more willing to explore reform efforts and it's not like they’ve turned their back on those efforts but they are just a lot more cautious than they were four years ago,” he said.

Individually, Gascón has also raised far less than Hochman. Gascón has raised about $870,000 to Hochman’s $4.6 million.

Supporters of Gascón remain confident they can overcome the deficit in the polls.

“There’s a huge number of undecideds,” said Hoover, from LA Voice Action.

A coalition led by Hoover’s group has raised $605,000 to support Gascón. Half the money comes from the Progressive Era PAC. Bay Area criminal justice reform advocate Quinn Delaney, the Smart Justice California Action Fund and SEIU 2015 have kicked in $100,000 each.

Hoover called the race “an uphill battle” for Gascón.

“I’m a man of faith, so I try to practice hopefulness,” he added.

LAist data journalist Maloy Moore contributed to this story.