LOS ANGELES– Former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman has taken a strong lead in his bid to unseat incumbent Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.

A tally of ballots early Wednesday morning showed Hochman with about 61.22 percent of the vote, while Gascón had 38.78 percent.

“It’s a big job, but I’m absolutely energized by the fact that I have over 750 prosecutors who are ready to get to work,” Hochman told Eyewitness News Tuesday evening. “I have tens of thousands of law enforcement officers who will no longer say ‘my hands are tied.’

Gascon won election for Los Angeles County district attorney in 2020 on his promise to implement criminal justice reform following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota. Four years later, he faces a tough-on-crime opponent who says such policies have gone too far.

Hochmannformer federal prosecutor, calls himself a “hard middle” candidate who would reject both mass incarceration and “decarceration” policies. Although he is a former Republican running as an independent in a heavily Democratic city, he has raised more than $4 million, compared to less than a million for Gascon, not including contributions to outside groups supporting the candidates.

When Gascón first ran for office, he vowed that he would not seek the death penalty in criminal proceedings, that he would not charge minors as adults, and that he would not would not seek sentencing enhancements that would significantly lengthen the prison term. Endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, then-Mayor Eric Garcetti and other prominent figures, he unseated incumbent District Attorney Jackie Lacey.

Gascón, however, has encountered difficulties in trying to implement these reforms, including opposition from some members of his own staff – and even lawsuits accusing him of workplace retaliation for challenging his directives. Two attempts were made to revoke it, but neither gained enough signatures to make the ballot. It has since changed course on several of these directives.

Hochman’s candidacy reflects the state’s growing disillusionment with progressive prosecutors who have pushed for criminal justice reform. In 2022, San Francisco voters ousted one of the first reform-minded prosecutors elected, this year voters will decide whether to recall another in Oakland.

The California Department of Justice’s crime statistics for Los Angeles County tell a mixed story.

Homicides have decreased 23.1% since a slight peak in 2021. Overall violent crime increased 8.5% between 2019 and 2023, but that figure was less than a 15.4% increase nationwide. the state as part of a national trend since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, property crimes increased 14.5% in Los Angeles County, but only 2.9% statewide.

Amid media coverage of high-profile murders and alarming viral videos of mass store break-ins, victim advocates and business interests are supporting Hochman.

“Mr. Gascón has been one of the greatest gifts to gangs,” Hochman said during a recent debate, criticizing him for not seeking to improve sentences for gangs in the country. murder of “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor.

Gascón spent much of the campaign defending his policies and the results of the lawsuits. On gang enhancement, for example, he said they were traditionally tinged with racial bias and he formed a committee to decide that on a case-by-case basis. His office says it has prosecuted more than 100,000 “serious crimes” over the past four years, a rate comparable to the previous decade.

Hochman also criticized Gascón’s policy against prosecuting minors as adults and highlighted cases of recidivism.

They include a 16-year-old man who participated in a gas station robbery in 2018 and was later released from a youth detention center, only to be arrested and charged last April with homicide . Another, a 17-year-old gang member in 2019 who admitted to a double homicide and could have faced life in prison, was released last February and arrested months later in connection with a new murder.

Much attention has also been paid to the case of Hannah Tubbs, a transgender woman who, at age 26, was allowed to plead guilty in juvenile court to the sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl, because the crime took place when Tubbs was a minor. Tubbs later pleaded no contest to the murder of a homeless man in central California.

Gascón says he handles juvenile cases in accordance with state law, which prohibits prosecutors from trying juveniles as adults without a judge’s approval. Another committee created by Gascón decides whether individual juvenile cases should be transferred to adult court.

Gascón touts his commitment to “balanced reform” in a system that has historically disproportionately locked away people of color. And he counterattacked by accusing Hochman of running a “Trump scare campaign” and wanting to return to the days of the failed war on drugs and mass incarceration.

“My opponent is disconnected from the truth,” Gascón said during a debate.

Hochman defended himself as a lifelong centrist who never supported former President Donald Trump and plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris this year.

“I’ve been pro-choice my whole life, I’ve been pro-LGBTQ rights my whole life,” he said.

Hochman advanced among a field of 11 challengers in one of the most crowded primary fields in Los Angeles history. He was supported by local police unions, victims’ advocacy groups, real estate developer and former mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, and more than 70 current and former county elected officials.

Gascón is a former Los Angeles police officer who served as San Francisco’s district attorney from 2011 to 2019 and also served as police chief in Mesa, Arizona and San Francisco. It was supported by the majority of Los Angeles County supervisors, local Democratic groups and labor groups, including the county Federation of Labor.

KABC-TV contributed to this report.