Gascón tries to cut into Hochman’s lead in L.A. D.A. race at debate

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón and former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman faced off in a contentious debate Tuesday evening that showcased the candidates’ dueling perspectives in the final weeks of a hard-fought campaign.

The forum took place after the release of a new poll that showed Hochman leading the incumbent among likely voters by 30 percentage points.

Hochman, riding high off the new poll results, slammed Gascón for “gaslighting” the public about his record and the state of public safety in L.A. County. Gascón passionately defended his accomplishments as D.A., stating multiple times that Hochman is either misinformed or “lying” about his background and important issues.

Presented by KNX News and the Los Angeles Times, Tuesday’s debate was the third between the candidates, with one more left before election day.

Hochman and Gascón have largely stuck to well-worn talking points during the forums. Echoing similar statements he’s made on the campaign trail and in the previous debates, Hochman said Gascón “has never personally prosecuted or defended a single criminal case in his career, while I have 32 years of experience.”

Later in the debate, Gascón said he “was running the LAPD’s COMPSTAT statistics while Mr. Hochman was” representing “wealthy” clients as a defense attorney.

Dist. Atty. George Gascón used more direct language than he has in the past, at one point saying that his opponent is “either lying or he doesn’t understand the job.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Gascón also reiterated past assertions, stating that “in 2022 [Hochman] was running as a Republican” for state attorney general while the incumbent was working to improve public safety in L.A. County.

A longtime Republican, Hochman is running for D.A. as an independent. He has said that he did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016 or 2020, and in August he said he endorsed Kamala Harris for president. Multiple times, Gascón mentioned his own past work with Harris before she became vice president.

Both candidates have incorporated increasingly inflammatory rhetoric as election day nears.

Gascón, for his part, used more direct language than he has in the past, at one point claiming that his opponent is “either lying or he doesn’t understand the job.” Hochman repeatedly alleged that Gascón has perpetrated a “Gas-con” in “a desperate effort to gaslight the public” about both candidates’ records and the realities of public safety in L.A. County.

Looming large over the Tuesday debate were the results of a poll from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by The Times, that was released that morning. The survey of 908 L.A. County likely voters had Hochman leading Gascón 51% to 21%, with 28% of voters remaining undecided.

The proportion of voters who self-identified as undecided in the Tuesday poll was down 7% since the last Times-UC Berkeley poll on Aug. 18. The majority of voters who chose a candidate since then “are mostly going to Hochman,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll, which was administered online in English and Spanish between Sept. 25 and Oct. 1. and had a 3-point margin of error.

The Tuesday event also featured detailed discussions of policies and crime statistics.

As he had in each of the two previous contests, Gascón defended his record of reforming the D.A.’s office along progressive lines. He said that rehabilitation is essential given that more than 90% of incarcerated people are eventually released, and also sought to explain the nuances of the D.A.’s role and what he is and isn’t empowered to do.

“Fear is up because crime is up,” said challenger Nathan Hochman, adding that it’s imperative that the D.A.’s office prosecute lower-level crimes such as drug possession.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“My opponent continues to misstate the facts because it is convenient to him,” Gascón said, adding that Hochman pushes “a dystopian view of where things are instead of coming to the table, rolling up your sleeves and asking what we can do to” address criminal justice issues in L.A. County.

As he has since he won the March primary, Hochman painted a vision on Tuesday of the county in which crime is out of control and residents are in need of a tough-minded D.A. who will bring criminals to justice.

“Violent crimes, property crimes, hate crimes … and human trafficking are up double digits” since Gascón took office, Hochman said. “Fear is up because crime is up,” and it’s imperative that the D.A.’s office prosecute lower-level crimes like drug possession and loitering for prostitution.

Gascón said such an approach would bring back an era in which the county’s jail was filled with people who committed minor crimes.

“There’s always this undertone of mass incarceration,” Gascón said of his opponent’s rhetoric. “He talks about how he’s going to provide for safety but he talks about no flexibility, everyone faces the maximum penalty no matter what. It’s so much code-talking for mass incarceration, it’s so much code-talking for the war on drugs.”