LOS ANGELES– Former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman is expected to become Los Angeles County’s next district attorney, unseating incumbent George Gascón, and he vows to stick with his “hard middle” approach.

“We’re going to get back to a reasonable, sensible and proportional approach, and day one should be fantastic,” he said.

Hochman sat down with our sister station KABC in Los Angeles for a one-on-one interview as he holds a commanding lead over Gascón with about 61 percent of the vote. Gascón has 39%.

Full interview: Hochman talks about his first day in office and the Menendez case

Hochman emerged from a primary field of 11 challengers and spent most of the campaign attacking Gascon policies that he said have led to increased crime and a lack of consequences for young offenders. During the proceedings, he highlighted the increase in violent crime in the county, a trend also seen statewide and nationally.

During Wednesday’s interview, Hochman credited Gascón for identifying real problems in the system, but that it was his solutions he didn’t agree.

“When I’m in the middle, and I call it the ‘hard work middle’ or the ‘tough middle,’ because you have to get the work done,” Hochman said. “It takes looking at each case individually, looking at each defendant, their background, the crime committed and the impact on the victim, to determine what the real threats to our public safety are. It’s often the repeat offenders who need to be behind bars …Your first nonviolent offender still has to repay a debt to society if he violates society’s laws.

How does Gascón’s loss impact Menendez’s appeal?

Last month, Gascón announced he was recommending that the Menendez brothers be sentenced to life without parole and instead be sentenced for murder, which would amount to a sentence of 50 years to life.

Lyle and Erik Menendez spent nearly 35 years in prison for the murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in 1989. The brothers were sentenced in 1996 to two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Gascón’s recommendation will be submitted to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, and if the judge agrees, the decision will then be in the hands of a parole board.

Hochman said he would “carefully review” the matter if it came to his desk after Dec. 2, when he is scheduled to take office.

He said he currently does not have access to the file.

“The same methodology that I would use for the Menendez case is the same methodology that I would use for all cases, which is to carefully examine the facts and the law,” he said. Hochman said. “Only then, after all this careful consideration, can a prosecutor form a proper opinion on whether a resentencing is just or unjust and what that resentencing should be So if the Menendez case lands on my desk after December 2, I will engage in exactly that type of review, but again, that’s the type of review that is. not reserved just for the Menendez case or any media case, this is the type of review that will take place in all cases. “

The Associated Press contributed to this report.