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Los Angeles City Attorney

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City of Los Angeles

Los Angeles City Attorney

This person is the city's lawyer. They advise city government. They also prosecute misdemeanors.

In June's biggest upset, incumbent City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto finished third. She is out of the race. The November 3 runoff pits Marissa Roy against John McKinney. Roy, with 43.1%, is a progressive state consumer protection lawyer. McKinney, with 28.6%, is a 30 year county prosecutor. The two stand for very different ideas of the city's lawyer.

The winner serves four years as the city's lawyer. The office defends every lawsuit against LA, signs off on City Hall's legal decisions, and decides how misdemeanors are prosecuted. Last fiscal year the city paid out $294 million in liability judgments.

Roy leads with affirmative lawsuits for tenants and consumers; McKinney leads with 'compassionate accountability' on quality-of-life crime. Ask which half of the job — suing on your behalf, or prosecuting — you most want strengthened.

Marissa Roy

Roy is a Deputy Attorney General in the state DOJ. They work in its consumer protection section. They spent years in impact litigation before that. They run on tenant protections and affirmative lawsuits. Bernie Sanders and the Attorney General back Roy. They have never run an office this large.

John McKinney

McKinney has been a Deputy District Attorney for about 30 years. He led the Nipsey Hussle murder prosecution. He runs on what he calls compassionate accountability. He means public safety plus fiscal restraint. The District Attorney and the police union back him. His career is the prosecuting half of the job.

Financial info

Marissa Roy

Primary — $1,379,953

$1,379,953raised
  • Small donors$29,9902%
  • Individuals$678,66449%
  • PACs & committees$43,9503%
  • Party$1,800<1%
  • Businesses & other orgs$22,7492%
  • Self-funding$36,8003%
  • Public matching funds$566,00041%

November — $73,989

$73,989raised
  • Individuals$73,989100%

John McKinney

Primary — $174,610

$174,610raised
  • Small donors$3,0552%
  • Individuals$165,44895%
  • PACs & committees$1,8001%
  • Businesses & other orgs$4,3072%

November — $8,307

$8,307raised
  • Individuals$8,05097%
  • Businesses & other orgs$2573%

Public matching funds are city money earned through small-donor support. Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026. Per Los Angeles City Ethics Commission campaign-finance data, retrieved 2026-09-21.

Total is itemized contributions dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 30, 2026, across each candidate's committees (primary and general, where filed separately). This dataset reflects periodic Form 460 statements, not the separate 24-hour large-contribution reports (Form 497) candidates file continuously — those can run well ahead of this total in the closing weeks before the election. Per Los Angeles City Ethics Commission campaign-finance data, retrieved 2026-08-30.

Your pick

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

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