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City of Los Angeles · Statewide General Election

Los Angeles City Attorney

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person is the city's lawyer: advises city government and prosecutes misdemeanors.

June's biggest upset: incumbent City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto finished third and is out. The November 3 runoff pits Marissa Roy (43.1%), a progressive state consumer-protection lawyer, against John McKinney (28.6%), a 30-year county prosecutor — two very different ideas of the city's lawyer.

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

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

Deputy Attorney General in the state DOJ's consumer-protection section, with impact-litigation years before that. She runs on tenant protections and affirmative lawsuits, backed by Bernie Sanders and the AG. She has never run an office this size.

Strengths

A modern impact-litigation résumé aimed at the office's civil side, with endorsements from AG Rob Bonta, Controller Kenneth Mejia, and UTLA.

Trade-offs

Misdemeanor prosecution — half the job — is outside her track record.

Keep in mind

A Westside Current records review reported her campaign bio had described a 'deputy city attorney' role when city records showed an unpaid fellowship. Attributed reporting; judge its weight yourself.

John McKinney

Deputy District Attorney of about 30 years who led the Nipsey Hussle murder prosecution. He runs on 'compassionate accountability' — public safety plus fiscal restraint — backed by the DA and the police union. His career is the prosecuting half of the job.

Strengths

As much courtroom experience as anyone in city politics and a clear public-safety mandate.

Trade-offs

The office's biggest bleeding is civil (those liability payouts), which is not where his career has been.

Keep in mind

He raised only ~$73K directly but benefited from ~$789K in independent expenditures — and critics argue police-union backing complicates an office that must sometimes sue or check the LAPD. Both points are structural, not personal.

Why the incumbent lost

Feldstein Soto's third-place finish traces to a documented pile-up: $294M in liability payouts in one fiscal year, an LAPD data breach that cost her the police union's endorsement, and late-campaign controversies over outside counsel spending. A cautionary record, not a character verdict.

Financial info

Marissa Roy

$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%

John McKinney

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

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 2026-08-22.

June 2 primary — how they advanced

Marissa Roy43.12% · 320,771 votes
John McKinney28.60% · 212,754 votes
Hydee Feldstein Soto17.99% · 133,799 votes
Aida Ashouri10.29% · 76,546 votes
Source review: Very strong (93/100) · 6 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

Last updated August 17, 2026.