{"id":935,"date":"2026-06-03T04:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=935"},"modified":"2026-06-03T04:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:00:09","slug":"los-angeles-city-attorney-trails-challengers-early-incumbent-city-controller-holds-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/california-relocation-journal.com\/?p=935","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles city attorney trails challengers early; incumbent city controller holds lead"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto lagged behind her two well-funded challengers based on early returns Tuesday night, but her incumbent colleague, City Controller Kenneth Mejia, appeared to be faring better in his bid to stay in office, holding a double-digit lead over finance executive Zach Sokoloff.<\/p>\n

Read more L.A. Rep. Jimmy Gomez reportedly faces House investigation over sexual misconduct allegations<\/a><\/p>\n

Progressive Marissa Roy led the field vying to serve as Los Angeles\u2019 top lawyer when the first batch of returns surfaced around 8:20 p.m. <\/p>\n

L.A. County Deputy Dist. Atty. John McKinney sat in second, while Feldstein Soto was positioned third. The top two finishers in the race will advance to November\u2019s general election.<\/p>\n

With only two candidates running, the controller\u2019s race will be decided this month and will not go to a runoff in November. But ballots will continue to be counted for days.<\/p>\n

The city attorney\u2019s race transformed suddenly this spring after the Los Angeles Police Department\u2019s largest union broke with Feldstein Soto and backed McKinney. Independent expenditures have thrown $3 million behind McKinney in recent weeks, with much of that money coming from a political action committee controlled by Airbnb. <\/p>\n

Feldstein Soto sued the rental giant for violating price gouging laws in the wake of the Palisades fire last year, and has openly questioned if McKinney would shy from aggressive litigation against Airbnb if elected. <\/p>\n

\u201cSpecial interests have gotten really accustomed to special treatment at City Hall. They get special treatment all the time,\u201d Feldstein Soto said in a recent interview, suggesting both McKinney and Roy had been compromised by outside spending in the race. Independent expenditures supporting Roy also received roughly $725,000.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview, McKinney told The Times he would \u201cabsolutely\u201d sue Airbnb if necessary in office. <\/p>\n

The three leading candidates often sounded like they were campaigning for different jobs.<\/p>\n

Roy said she would run the city attorney\u2019s office as L.A.\u2019s \u201clargest public interest law firm,\u201d focusing on tenant\u2019s rights, wage theft and other issues affecting working-class Angelenos. A deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice, she also vowed to sue the Trump administration, linking arms with the attorney general\u2019s office and other city attorneys in aggressive litigation to curb what many Californians see as targeted abuses of power. <\/p>\n

McKinney talked more like he was running for city prosecutor, leaning heavily on his experience winning high-profile felony trials in the downtown courthouse. He said he would improve the way the city attorney prosecutes gun crimes and animal abusers. Despite his lack of experience as a civil litigator, McKinney also said he could bring down the city\u2019s litigation costs, which exploded under Feldstein Soto. <\/p>\n

While her term has been marked by financial strain, allegations of misconduct and mistreatment of employees and recent questions about her handling of a data breach that led to the leak of a trove of LAPD records, Feldstein Soto maintained her opponents are far too inexperienced to serve as the city\u2019s top lawyer. <\/p>\n

Read more Vote count for California governor, L.A. mayor could be painfully slow. Don\u2019t expect \u2018instant gratification\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

She said she improved public safety in the city by repairing her office\u2019s relationship with the LAPD and filed more misdemeanors than her predecessor. Although legal costs surged, Feldstein Soto said she did her best to mitigate damage on a number of difficult cases she inherited when taking office in 2022. The rise of so-called \u201cnuclear verdicts\u201d in civil claims reflects a nationwide trend rather than a fault of her leadership, she said.<\/p>\n

Feldstein Soto was endorsed by Mayor Karen Bass and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Roy had the support of the L.A. County Democratic Party, the city chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). In addition to the police union, McKinney was backed by his boss, L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman. <\/p>\n

The city controller\u2019s race, normally a fairly sleepy affair, has turned into the second-highest-spending race in the city. <\/p>\n

Mejia, 35, known for his two corgis that he often features on billboards across Los Angeles, sought to retain his seat as the city\u2019s accountant and auditor. <\/p>\n

His only challenger was Sokoloff, a senior vice president for asset management at Hackman Capital Partners. Sokoloff, 37, alleged Mejia did not properly utilize the controller\u2019s office to run audits on city departments and failed to keep up the auditing pace of his predecessor. <\/p>\n

Sokoloff\u2019s mother, Sheryl, has spent $7.5 million on independent expenditures in the race, mostly on attack ads and mailers against Mejia. Often, ads point to allegations that Mejia in 2023 fostered a toxic workplace and made inappropriate sexual remarks to female subordinates. <\/p>\n

A woman who identified herself as Sheryl Sokoloff hung up on a Times reporter last week when asked about the race expenditures. <\/p>\n

Mejia said Sokoloff\u2019s mother \u2014 married to Jonathan Sokoloff, managing partner of private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners \u2014 was trying to bankroll the seat for her son. <\/p>\n

Mejia has long run on accountability and transparency for the city\u2019s budget and made public-facing databases across dozens of topics on the controller\u2019s website in his first term. <\/p>\n

A licensed certified public accountant, Mejia is a member of the Green Party and does not accept endorsements from political parties or politicians. He was endorsed by the Los Angeles Daily News and multiple labor unions, including the United Teachers of Los Angeles and United Auto Workers.<\/p>\n

Sokoloff, a Democrat, was endorsed by multiple former controllers, notable Democrats \u2014 including Schiff \u2014 and the L.A. County Democratic Party, along with other business advocacy groups. <\/p>\n

Read more In deep blue California, frustration with Democratic status quo fuels governor, L.A. mayor race<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto lagged far behind her challengers based on early returns. 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Hydee Feldstein Soto lagged far behind her challengers based on early returns. 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