Nathan Hochman has secured a sweeping victory in the race to unseat Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón. The latest voting results as of press time show Hochman with 61.5% of the vote and Gascón with 38.5%. Supporters gathered at a Beverly Hills private equity investment firm to celebrate with the candidate on election night.
Hochman’s campaign platform focused on rejecting progressive policies brought forth by Gascón. Coining himself as a “hard middle” candidate, he vowed to undo or modify many of Gascón’s approaches, which he labeled as “failed social policies.” In particular, Hochman criticized Gascón’s handling of juvenile cases, alleging that they contributed to a “breakdown” in public safety caused by a lack of consequences for young offenders. And he often claimed that the District Attorney’s office had created a barrier between itself and police departments. His message resonated with voters.
“Safety is a crossover issue,” Hochman said at his election party. Of his next steps in office, Hochman told his supporters, “We’ll go back to just two things—the facts and the law.”
Hochman received endorsements from many political organizations as well as figures influential in Los Angeles County. They included the former Los Angeles mayoral candidate and developer Rick Caruso, former District Attorney Jackie Lacey, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Beverly Hills Police Officers’ Association, as well as more than 70 current or former county officials. Current or former Beverly Hills elected officials who supported his race included Lester Friedman, Lili Bosse, Sharona Nazarian, Julian Gold, M.D., John Mirisch, Craig Corman and Mary Wells. Several of those officials attended the victory party, along with many current Deputy District Attorneys.
Hochman was raised in Beverly Hills and still has strong ties to the city. After graduating from Beverly Hills High School, Hochman attended Brown University and then Stanford Law School. He began a legal career as a clerk for United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles. He then became an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. After that, he worked as a United States Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice. He then transitioned into private practice and worked as a criminal defense attorney. In 2022, he ran an unsuccessful bid as the Republican nominee in the California Attorney General election.
Hochman’s younger brother David, a partner at a Century City law firm, was a crucial member of his campaign team. David said at the election night event, “There is no place I’d rather be than by my brother’s side.”
He recounted years earlier at the campaign election party that his brother Nathan had approached him asking for help winning the election for 8th-grade president at Hawthorne Elementary School. David recalled four years later telling Nathan that he would help him win as student body president of Beverly Hills High School, saying, “I got the sophomore class. Let’s do this.”
Though many Hochman supporters agreed with the characterization that Gascón was “soft on crime,” and the campaign often used the slogan “Make crime illegal again,” California Department of Justice data shows violent crime has risen 8% in Los Angeles County from 2019 to 2023. That is a lower rate of growth than many other California counties.
A concession statement released on Nov. 6 by Gascón stated in part, “I have called Mr. Hochman and wish him the best as Los Angeles County’s next District Attorney. I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished over the past four years and grateful to the communities who have been and will always be the heart of criminal justice reform.”
