Nathan Hochman defeated incumbent George Gascón in last month’s election. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger administered the oath in front of the 1920s-era building home to offices of the Los Angeles County Sheriff and the District Attorney, making Hochman the county’s 44th district attorney.
The 61-year-old former federal prosecutor ran as an independent this time around after seeking the state attorney general’s office as a Republican in 2022. “We are here collectively as Angelenos… who are looking to live in a county where safety is prioritized,” Hochman said Tuesday.
Hochman will carry what amounts to a mandate from LA County voters to get tougher on crime. The latest ballot count showed Hochman with more than 1.9 million votes, or just under 60%, compared to Gascón’s 1.3 million votes. Gascón conceded defeat on Nov. 6, one day after Election Day.
Former Weaknesses of LA Law
Gascón came into office four years ago, riding high atop a progressive platform, but gradually fell under a deluge of criticism, most notably from Hochman himself. He accused Gascón of being soft on crime as high-profile robberies, assaults, and killings grabbed headlines.
Gascón defended his record, denying that his policies led to increased crime and insisting that statistics show drops in many categories. However, these defenses did little to calm the swell of differing public opinion surrounding him.
Hochman, in contrast, touts a “hard middle approach,” stating that his policies would not lead to mass incarceration but rather that cases would be reviewed individually and punishment meted out proportionally for the crime committed.
“District attorneys must have only two things as their North Stars: the facts and the law,” Hochman said. “I reject blanket extreme policies on both sides of the pendulum swing – incarceration policies that predetermine that certain crimes and certain criminals are not going to be prosecuted and mass incarceration policies that also are not anchored in the facts and the law.”
Pitiful Attempts at Course Correction
According to the California Department of Justice, violent crime is up about 8% from 2019 to 2023 countywide, though in Los Angeles, violent crime decreased by about 6%. For his part, Schwarzenegger said he believes Hochman has a strategy to help fight crime in California’s largest county.
“What I have seen over the last few years was pitiful,” Schwarzenegger said before delivering the oath. “Every time you turn on the news, you hear about someone getting stabbed on the Metro. Someone is getting robbed in their home. Some stores are getting broken into. We’ve failed to protect the people. This is the government’s No. 1 responsibility, to protect its citizens. Los Angeles has failed.”
In a statement issued after his swearing-in, Hochman vowed to make the following changes on his first day in office:
- Restore the ability of prosecutors to pursue sentencing enhancements for defendants who used firearms in the commission of their crimes or whose crimes were committed for the benefit of criminal street gangs.
- Eliminate the prohibition on prosecutors attending parole hearings to advocate on behalf of rape victims and relatives of homicide victims when their assailants are seeking an early release from prison.
- Rescind a prohibition against charging juveniles with misdemeanors for stealing merchandise valued at less than $950.
Hochman’s Promise of Change
Hochman also said he intends to lead task forces on homelessness, fentanyl poisoning, human trafficking, hate crimes, organized retail crime, and residential burglaries.
During his speech Tuesday, Hochman turned to the future, but one of his first tasks involved a decades-old case. In the weeks before Nov. 5 Election Day, Gascón announced that he supported the resentencing of the Menendez brothers, serving life sentences for the shotgun murders of their parents in 1989 at their Beverly Hills mansion. Last week, a judge delayed a decision until January, giving Hochman time to review the case.
