Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón faced off against his November opponent, Nathan Hochman, via Zoom on Wednesday, with the two candidates trading sharp but polite exchanges in their first head-to-head matchup of the campaign.
The virtual forum was marked by technical glitches, rapid topic switching and attacks from both candidates, with Gascón defending his record as a prosecutor while laying out a progressive vision for his next four years in office, while Hochman tried to pitch himself as the tough-on-crime candidate.
Gascón has been a controversial figure since taking office four years ago on a platform of criminal justice reform and has since faced harsh criticism and rolled back some of his most bold policies, but he said his priorities remain keeping crime low by lowering incarceration rates while also holding lawbreakers accountable.
“We've evolved,” Gascón said, noting that under his leadership the district attorney's office has prosecuted “more than 100,000 serious and violent crimes.”
Gascón gave as an example his stance on sentencing aggravations, which can extend prison terms for certain crimes. He initially dropped most aggravations, including for hate crimes, but said “very early on, there were concerns about hate crime allegations and we put them in place.” [enhancements] Come back.”
Hochman, a former federal prosecutor, repeatedly argued that his opponent misrepresented the facts and said the district attorney was leading an “extreme agenda” that threatens the safety of Los Angeles residents.
“The DA's choice couldn't be more contrasting,” Hochman said. “We have attempted a social experiment in public safety that has failed and it's time to end it,” he said later.
The event, billed as a candidate forum, was organized by the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and moderated by Spectrum News 1 political reporter Alex Cohen. It started nearly 10 minutes late due to technical issues, leaving candidates struggling to navigate the mute button and setting strict time limits for answering questions.
Mr. Hochman, wearing a dark, ironed suit and short, combed hair, sat in front of a sterile white background under bright lighting, while Mr. Gascón was brightly backlit, with knick-knacks and potted plants positioned behind him as he spoke.
Both candidates cherry-picked information and data to help make their case to voters. Hochman highlighted numbers from the California Department of Justice showing violent crime in Los Angeles County increased 12.1% between 2020 and 2023. He said property crimes are also on the rise.
“Don’t be fooled into believing, as Gascón says, that crime is going down when the California Department of Justice and your own experience show that it is. [the opposite]” said Hochman.
According to state Department of Justice data, rapes in the county fell between 2020 and 2023, while homicides remained steady. But Gascón pointed to Los Angeles Police Department statistics showing citywide homicides fell 17% from 2022 to 2023.
Hochman accused the current district attorney of referencing city statistics when he oversees the county, and he also grilled the district attorney about incidents of protests, intimidation, and violence on campuses and outside synagogues in the city of Los Angeles (which has its own city attorney's office).
In response to Hochman's barrage of attacks, Gascón calmly said, “My opponent is wrestling with the truth. Tonight, he does not understand the role of district attorney.”
Shortly after Tuesday's widely watched presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, Gascón took one last shot at his opponent, who is now an independent but previously ran for state attorney general as a Republican.
“Tonight we heard yet another round of Trump's political fear-mongering,” he said. “We heard two very different visions for the future of our communities.”
