Voter Guides

Incumbent upended: LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto wishes her successor well

By Nick Gerda and Makenna Cramer

Published Jun 2, 2026 6:00 AM

Updated Jun 4, 2026 11:33 AM

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L.A. is likely to have a new city attorney

Incumbent Hydee Feldstein Soto is in a distant third place after the early vote counting.

L.A. voters appear to have ousted City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, in what would be a rare primary defeat of an incumbent elected official in the city.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Feldstein Soto’s office said she’s “extremely proud of her record in office, including making significant progress to halt human trafficking and to hold large special interests to account.”

The statement stopped shy of an all out concession, but added that Feldstein Soto “has every hope that her efforts to limit outside influence will take root in her successor's administration.”

Early results showed Feldstein Soto trailing — in a distant third place behind two challengers who drew significant endorsements and campaign spending.

Feldstein Soto had 19.5%, far behind state Attorney General’s Office lawyer Marissa Roy’s 37% and L.A. County district attorney’s prosecutor John McKinney’s 33%. Many ballots remain to count.

Feldstein Soto has faced a number of ethics controversies over her time in office, including claims by career prosecutors that she has a pattern of ordering them to drop criminal cases to help her donors. She has denied the accusations, saying money has never influenced her decisions and that she has worked to reform the office from past ethics scandals.

Roy, the frontrunner so far, said the results show voters want change.

“Angelenos sent a clear message in yesterday’s primary that they're ready for a change, and ready for a city attorney who fights for working people, not special interests. Our campaign’s people power, united around this vision, made it possible,” Roy said in a statement.

McKinney told LAist’s AirTalk with Larry Mantle that he’s “very thrilled with the count so far,” adding that he entered the race 15 weeks ago to take on two candidates who had been running for about 15 months.

He said voters are “holding the current city attorney accountable for her lack of a plan to deal with homelessness,” as well as what he described as her “inability to handle some of the costly liability lawsuits that have been brought against the city.”

“They want more decisive leadership,” he added. “They want political courage in dealing with homelessness, which is going to take making tough decisions and engaging in unglamorous work to try and fix that problem, and that's what I've been talking about.”

Roy is a consumer protection attorney at the California Attorney General’s Office. She received endorsements from many labor unions, the L.A. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and progressives in L.A. County and city government. Some of her major donors are law firms that have sued the city. The city’s handling of lawsuits is managed by the City Attorney’s Office, which makes recommendations on major decisions to the City Council.

McKinney describes himself as a “tough-on-crime prosecutor” at the L.A. County District Attorney's Office, where he’s handled murder cases, including the 2019 killing of the rapper Nipsey Hustle. He has the support of his boss, county District Attorney Nathan Hochman, as well as law enforcement and business groups such as the Latin Business Association. The L.A. Police Department's officers union endorsed McKinney after rescinding its endorsement of Feldstein Soto.

About our live results

Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be known for days or weeks after Election Day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known.

What’s at stake in the race for city attorney

Incumbent Hydee Feldstein Soto faced off against three challengers for the job of Los Angeles city attorney. In the weeks leading up to the election, she faced accusations of favoring political donors in criminal cases.

What it takes to win

The top two candidates in the June primary will face off in the November general election, unless a contender gets more than 50% of the votes, at which point the race will be called.

Why this race matters

The city attorney runs an office of more than 550 lawyers representing L.A. in all legal matters, including filing lawsuits and defending against them — and L.A. is involved in a lot of lawsuits.

Think of the city attorney as the head of a law firm representing the L.A. city government as its client. The person who holds this office counsels city departments, boards and officers on legal issues, including how to interpret court rulings or the city charter.

The city attorney oversees all litigation involving L.A. and works as a legal advisor to the mayor and City Council. When the City Council proposes a law, the city attorney actually writes the law.

Campaign finance

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About the vote count

For LAist's charts showing vote counts, we get numbers directly from the L.A. County and Orange County registrars of voters for local races. Totals are updated on our site as soon as possible after the registrars provide new tallies. For statewide races, counts come from the California Secretary of State's Office.

Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after election day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known. In L.A. County, for example, updates on the counting are expected to continue through June 26. After the polls closed on election night, we had updates to the official count regularly into the early hours Wednesday. After that, updates have been daily around 5 p.m. Expect updates on the following days: June 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, 24 and 26. Final results must be certified by July 10.

Our priority during the vote count will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted by journalists. To that end, we will report when candidates concede and otherwise rely on NPR and the Associated Press for race calls (before official results). We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more about NPR's and the AP's process for counting votes and calling races here, here and here.

Tracking your ballot

You can track the status of your ballot through California's BallotTrax website.

If your mail-in ballot has any problems (like a missing or mismatched signature), your county registrar must contact you to give you a chance to fix it.

Official results

The California Secretary of State's Office is required to certify the final vote tallies by July 10, marking the official end of the 2026 primary election.

LAist's Voter Game Plan will be back in the fall to help you prepare for the Nov. 3 general election.

What questions do you have about this election?

You ask, and we'll answer: Whether it's about who's funding the campaigns or how to track your ballot, we're here to help you understand the 2026 election