Politics
George Gascón survived the primary. Can Nathan Hochman unseat him as D.A.?
Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón had a rough Tuesday night, winning an alarmingly low share of votes for an incumbent after polls showed a majority of voters view him negatively.
But he may have also gotten exactly what he needed, experts say.
As of Thursday afternoon, Gascón led a crowded primary field with nearly 23% of the vote, followed closely by former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman with 17%. Only Deputy Dist. Atty. Jonathan Hatami, with 13%, stood in long-shot striking distance of preventing a November showdown between Gascón and Hochman. But that window was rapidly shrinking with more than two-thirds of the ballots counted.
Consultants and political observers said Gascón’s performance was weak for an incumbent in a countywide race. But the “godfather of progressive prosecutors” probably drew the opponent he wanted in Hochman — a former Republican whom Gascón can try to portray as a conservative in a November election during which some experts expect more liberals to turn out for the presidential contest of Joe Biden versus Donald Trump.
“This is not going to be a ‘shades of gray’ election,” said Dan Schnur, a former advisor to Republican politicians who teaches political communications at USC. “The fact that Hochman has been one of the most conservative voices in the race does allow Gascón to draw a more stark contrast in a left-leaning city like Los Angeles. But the fact that Gascón’s numbers are so low suggests that he still starts at a considerable disadvantage.”
Hochman — who launched an unsuccessful bid for state attorney general as a Republican in 2022 — has bristled at the notion that he’s too conservative to compete in November, a point often raised by his opponents in the primary. He describes himself as a centrist who registered as both Republican and Democrat in the past, now running as an independent with a promise to depoliticize the district attorney’s office. He says he’s never voted for Trump, described his politics as “socially moderate” and says his campaign has attracted bipartisan support.
But a review of campaign finance donations shows Hochman received more than half a million dollars from Republican mega-donor Gerald Marcil. His campaign also has paid more than $100,000 to the Pluvious Group, a Republican firm that organized fundraisers for Trump’s 2020 campaign.
Political consultant Brian Van Riper, who is not involved in the race, said Gascón’s strategy will be to “hang the likeness of Donald Trump over Nathan Hochman. They’re going to run against Donald Trump.”
Gascón and his surrogates have wasted little time trying to paint Hochman as too conservative. Jamarah Hayner, a strategist for his campaign, said Wednesday that Gascón’s primary showing was “to be expected with a packed field of opponents spending months and millions of dollars throwing everything they had against the D.A.”
“Now, we have a clear Democrat-versus-Republican choice going into November, which we’re very optimistic about,” Hayner said.
The Prosecutors Alliance of California — a group of progressive district attorneys run by a Gascón ally — also sent out an email blast Wednesday describing Hochman as “a longtime Republican claiming to be an independent in a clear effort to conceal a right-wing agenda.”
Hochman describes his policy platform as “the hard middle,” with some positions that strike a moderate tone. He favors diversion for nonviolent low-level offenders and is a champion of CARE courts, which offer voluntary treatment and services to people experiencing homelessness. But his statements on public safety can border on the apocalyptic, such as when he compares L.A. to “Gotham City.”
Hochman’s fundraising ability could make him a formidable November challenger. He easily lapped the primary field in campaign cash, and after Gascón raised more than $12 million in his successful 2020 bid, any challenger will need a considerable war chest.
To win reelection, Gascón will have to overcome perceptions that he’s soft on crime and has run the office in a way that his detractors say has sown discord. During his term, Gascón lost the support of nearly all of his own prosecutors, faced two recall attempts and took constant criticism for policies that severely limited when prosecutors could use sentencing enhancements or seek to try juveniles as adults.
In a case that revolved around California’s “three strikes” law, a judge deemed Gascón’s policy of not seeking those enhancements illegal. Gascón has appealed, and the matter will go before the state Supreme Court.
Hochman has vowed to carve up the progressive district attorney’s policies and promised to serve as prosecutor in the “trial of George Gascón.”
“The witnesses that we will be presenting will be the real-life victims of his policies,” Hochman said in an interview Wednesday. “It will be the store owners who have been pepper-sprayed by smash-and-grab robbers, who watched their life savings and life’s work being destroyed. It’ll be people who had their houses robbed, their cars broken into. It’ll be parents who’ve lost their children to fentanyl poisoning.”
Property and violent crime rose by about 8% in L.A. County from 2019 to 2022, according to California Department of Justice data. Under Gascón’s policies, the office’s misdemeanor filing rates plummeted, a decision critics have linked to increased property crime rates, especially car break-ins. And in some cases, critics have tied Gascón’s policies to heinous crimes.
Criminologists, however, say its overly simplistic to blame short-term crime trends on a prosecutor’s policies. LAPD data also show homicides and robberies have declined over the last two years.
Statistics may not matter much to voters who are already fearful of crime, Van Riper said. But Gascón could face a more favorable electorate in November. Data show just 20% of registered L.A. County voters had returned ballots as of Wednesday afternoon, and the returnees skewed older and conservative.
Hochman believes he will gain the support of virtually every voter who chose a candidate other than Gascón and says he plans to invite some of his opponents who ran to serve as part of a team “that can really restore the prominence to the D.A.’s office.”
Schnur and Van Riper both noted that Hochman is not likely to parlay the entirety of the anti-Gascón crowd, as supporters of more moderate candidates may turn back to the incumbent. But the candidates who finished closest to Hochman in the primary — Hatami and Superior Court Judge Debra Archuleta — ran aggressive, tough-on-crime campaigns that may see their voters migrate to the former federal prosecutor.
In a November contest with Trump on the ballot, Van Riper said, Gascón may benefit if a larger number of liberal voters who would welcome the successes of his tenure — including a dramatic improvement in the office’s handling of wrongful convictions and stepped-up efforts to prosecute police misconduct — turn out.
But Hochman says his plan is to run a campaign that brings together his primary rivals’ supporters and law enforcement leaders, focused on public safety, not partisanship.
“The only way George Gascón can win is if he makes this about politics rather than about people’s safety,” Hochman said. “He needs to distract the voters from looking at their own safety.”
Politics
Video: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows
new video loaded: Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows
transcript
transcript
Walz Drops Re-Election Bid as Minnesota Fraud Scandal Grows
Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota abandoned his re-election bid to focus on handling a scandal over fraud in social service programs that grew under his administration.
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“I’ve decided to step out of this race, and I’ll let others worry about the election while I focus on the work that’s in front of me for the next year.” “All right, so this is Quality Learing Center — meant to say Quality ‘Learning’ Center.” “Right now we have around 56 kids enrolled. If the children are not here, we mark absence.”
By Shawn Paik
January 6, 2026
Politics
Pelosi heir-apparent calls Trump’s Venezuela move a ‘lawless coup,’ urges impeachment, slams Netanyahu
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A San Francisco Democrat demanded the impeachment of President Donald Trump, accusing him of carrying out a “coup” against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.
California state Sen. Scott Wiener, seen as the likely congressional successor to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, also took a swipe at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Wiener has frequently drawn national attention for his progressive positions, including his legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom designating California as a “refuge” for transgender children and remarks at a San Francisco Pride Month event referring to California children as “our kids.”
In a lengthy public statement following the Trump administration’s arrest and extradition of Maduro to New York, Wiener said the move shows the president only cares about “enriching his public donors” and “cares nothing for the human or economic cost of conquering another country.”
KAMALA HARRIS BLASTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S CAPTURE OF VENEZUELA’S MADURO AS ‘UNLAWFUL AND UNWISE’
California State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, speaks at a rally. (John Sciulli/Getty Images)
“This lawless coup is an invitation for China to invade Taiwan, for Russia to escalate its conquest in Ukraine, and for Netanyahu to expand the destruction of Gaza and annex the West Bank,” said Wiener, who originally hails from South Jersey.
He suggested that the Maduro operation was meant to distract from purportedly slumping poll numbers, the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents, and to essentially seize another country’s oil reserves.
“Trump is a total failure,” Wiener said. “By engaging in this reckless act, Trump is also making the entire world less safe … Trump is making clear yet again that, under this regime, there are no rules, there are no laws, there are no norms – there is only whatever Trump thinks is best for himself and his cronies at a given moment in time.”
GREENE HITS TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES, ARGUES ACTION ‘DOESN’T SERVE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE’
In response, the White House said the administration’s actions against Maduro were “lawfully executed” and included a federal arrest warrant.”
“While Democrats take twisted stands in support of indicted drug smugglers, President Trump will always stand with victims and families who can finally receive closure thanks to this historic action,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said.
Supporters of the operation have pushed back on claims of “regime change” – an accusation Wiener also made – pointing to actions by Maduro-aligned courts that barred top opposition leader María Corina Machado from running, even as publicly reported results indicated her proxy, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the vote.
“Trump’s illegal invasion of Venezuela isn’t about drugs, and it isn’t about helping the people of Venezuela or restoring Venezuelan democracy,” Wiener added. “Yes, Maduro is awful, but that’s not what the invasion is about. It’s all about oil and Trump’s collapsing support at home.”
EX-ESPN STAR KEITH OLBERMANN CALLS FOR IMPEACHMENT OF TRUMP OVER VENEZUELA STRIKES THAT CAPTURED MADURO
Around the country, a handful of other Democrats referenced impeachment or impeachable offenses, but did not go as far as Wiener in demanding such proceedings.
Rep. April McClain-Delaney, D-Md., who represents otherwise conservative “Mountain Maryland” in the state’s panhandle, said Monday that Democrats should “imminently consider impeachment proceedings,” according to TIME.
McClain-Delaney said Trump acted without constitutionally-prescribed congressional authorization and wrongly voiced “intention to ‘run’ the country.”
SCHUMER BLASTED TRUMP FOR FAILING TO OUST MADURO — NOW WARNS ARREST COULD LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’
One frequent Trump foil, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., cited in a statement that she has called for Trump’s impeachment in the past; blaming Republicans for letting the president “escape accountability.”
“Today, many Democrats have understandably questioned whether impeachment is possible again under the current political reality. I am reconsidering that view,” Waters said.
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“What we are witnessing is an unprecedented escalation of an unlawful invasion, the detention of foreign leaders, and a president openly asserting power far beyond what the Constitution allows,” she said, while appearing to agree with Trump that Maduro was involved in drug trafficking and “collaborat[ion] with… terrorists.”
Wiener’s upcoming primary is considered the deciding election in the D+36 district, while a handful of other lesser-known candidates have reportedly either filed FEC paperwork or declared their candidacy, including San Francisco Councilwoman Connie Chan.
Politics
California Congressman Doug LaMalfa dies, further narrowing GOP margin in Congress
California Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) has died, GOP leadership and President Trump confirmed Tuesday morning.
“Jacquie and I are devastated about the sudden loss of our friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America,” said Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the House majority whip, in a post on X. “Our prayers are with Doug’s wife, Jill, and their children.”
LaMalfa, 65, was a fourth-generation rice farmer from Oroville and staunch Trump supporter who had represented his Northern California district for the past 12 years. His seat was one of several that was in jeopardy under the state’s redrawn districts approved by voters with Proposition 50.
Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call from LaMalfa’s residence at 6:50 p.m. Monday, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. The congressman was taken to the Enloe Medical Center in Chico, where he died while undergoing emergency surgery, authorities said.
An autopsy to determine the cause of death is planned, according to the sheriff’s office.
LaMalfa’s district — which stretches from the northern outskirts of Sacramento, through Redding at the northern end of the Central Valley and Alturas in the state’s northeast corner — is largely rural, and constituents have long said they felt underrepresented in liberal California.
LaMalfa put much of his focus on boosting federal water supplies to farmers, and seeking to reduce environmental restrictions on logging and extraction of other natural resources.
One LaMalfa’s final acts in the U.S. House was to successfully push for the reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools Act, a long-standing financial aid program for schools surrounded by untaxed federal forest land, whose budgets could not depend upon property taxes, as most public schools do. Despite broad bipartisan support, Congress let it lapse in 2023.
In an interview with The Times as he was walking onto the House floor in mid-December, LaMalfa said he was frustrated with Congress’s inability to pass even a popular bill like that reauthorization.
The Secure Rural Schools Act, he said, was a victim of a Congress in which “it’s still an eternal fight over anything fiscal.” It is “annoying,” LaMalfa said, “how hard it is to get basic things done around here.”
In a statement posted on X, California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said he considered LaMalfa “a friend and partner” and that the congressman was “deeply committed to his community and constituents, working to make life better for those he represented.”
“Doug’s life was one of great service and he will be deeply missed,” Schiff wrote.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement called LaMalfa a “devoted public servant who deeply loved his country, his state, and the communities he represented.”
“While we often approached issues from different perspectives, he fought every day for the people of California with conviction and care,” Newsom said.
Flags at the California State Capitol in Sacramento will be flown at half-staff in honor of the congressman, according to the governor.
Before his death, LaMalfa was facing a difficult reelection bid to hold his seat. After voters approved Proposition 50 in November — aimed at giving California Democrats more seats in Congress — LaMalfa was drawn into a new district that heavily favored his likely opponent, State Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat who represents the state’s northwest coast.
LaMalfa’s death puts the Republican majority in Congress in further jeopardy, with a margin of just two votes to secure passage of any bill along party lines after the resignation of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday evening.
Adding to the party’s troubles, Rep. Jim Baird, a Republican from Indiana, was hospitalized on Tuesday for a car crash described by the White House as serious. While Baird is said to be stable, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson from Louisiana, will not be able to rely on his attendance. And he has one additional caucus member – Thomas Massie of Kentucky – who has made a habit of voting against the president, bringing their margin for error down effectively to zero.
President Trump, addressing a gathering of GOP House members at the Kennedy Center, addressed the news at the start of his remarks, expressing “tremendous sorrow at the loss of a great member” and stating his speech would be made in LaMalfa’s honor.
“He was the leader of the Western caucus – a fierce champion on California water issues. He was great on water. ‘Release the water!’ he’d scream out. And a true defender of American children.”
“You know, he voted with me 100% of the time,” Trump added.
A native of Oroville, LaMalfa attended Butte College and then earned an ag-business degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He served in the California Assembly from 2002 to 2008 and the California State Senate from 2010 to 2012. Staunchly conservative, he was an early supporter of Proposition 209, which ended affirmative action in California, and he also pushed for passage of the Protection of Marriage Act, Proposition 22, which banned same-sex marriage in California.
While representing California’s 1st District, LaMalfa focused largely on issues affecting rural California and other western states. In 2025, Congressman he was elected as Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, which focuses on legislation affected rural areas.
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