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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.

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 2026-08-03.

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 7, 2026.