Jonathan Hatami
Jonathan Hatami ran for election for Los Angeles County District Attorney in California. He lost in the primary on March 5, 2024.
Hatami completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jonathan Hatami served in the U.S. Army from 1989 to 1996 as an infantryman and a member of the military police. He earned a high school diploma from Canyon High School, an associate degree from the College of the Canyons in 1996, a bachelor's degree from California State University, Northridge in 1999, and a law degree from the University of Nebraska in 2002. In 2006, Hatami joined the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office as a deputy district attorney. In 2016, Hatami was assigned to the Complex Child Abuse unit, where he continued to serve as of 2024.[1][2]
Hatami has been affiliated with the following organizations:[2]
- American Legion
- Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
- Justice for Murdered Children
- Justice for Homicide Victims
- Parents of Murdered Children
Elections
2024
See also: Municipal elections in Los Angeles County, California (2024)
General election
General election for Los Angeles County District Attorney
Nathan Hochman defeated incumbent George Gascón in the general election for Los Angeles County District Attorney on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nathan Hochman (Nonpartisan)  | 59.9 | 1,983,802 |
 | George Gascón (Nonpartisan) | 40.1 | 1,328,710 | |
| Total votes: 3,312,512 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Los Angeles County District Attorney
The following candidates ran in the primary for Los Angeles County District Attorney on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | George Gascón (Nonpartisan) | 25.2 | 370,654 |
| ✔ | | Nathan Hochman (Nonpartisan) | 15.9 | 234,509 |
 | Jonathan Hatami (Nonpartisan) | 13.2 | 194,755 | |
 | Debra Archuleta (Nonpartisan) | 8.5 | 125,306 | |
 | Jeff Chemerinsky (Nonpartisan) | 7.9 | 116,064 | |
| Maria Ramirez (Nonpartisan) | 7.1 | 105,088 | ||
 | John McKinney (Nonpartisan) | 6.0 | 87,903 | |
 | Eric Siddall (Nonpartisan) | 5.6 | 82,993 | |
 | David Sherman Milton (Nonpartisan) | 4.3 | 63,044 | |
| Craig Mitchell (Nonpartisan) | 3.0 | 44,326 | ||
 | Lloyd Masson (Nonpartisan) | 2.0 | 29,306 | |
 | Daniel Kapelovitz (Nonpartisan) | 1.2 | 17,622 | |
| Total votes: 1,471,570 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Hatami's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Hatami in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jonathan Hatami completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hatami's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I graduated from high school and then enlisted in the US Army, serving 7 years active duty first in the Infantry (11B) and eventually achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant in the Military Police Corp (95B). During my time in the military, I personally led and supervised numerous soldiers as a squad leader, platoon sergeant, and MP staff sergeant.
I was raised poor, by a single working mom, and after being honorably discharged, I returned to LA and paid my own way through junior college, state university and law school using the GI Bill, Pell grants and financial aid.
I have handled thousands of child physical and sexual abuse cases, domestic violence, hate crimes, elder abuse, sex-trafficking, torture and complex homicides. In 2016, I was named prosecutor of the year by the Antelope Valley Bar Association. In 2019, I was named prosecutor of the year by the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
I have prosecuted over 80 jury trials including the 4-month trial of the torture and murder of Gabriel Fernandez which became a 6-part Netflix documentary “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez” released in 2020. In 2023, I successfully prosecuted the murderers of 10-year-old Anthony Avalos.
- Public Safety: I will be a DA who prioritizes public safety, prosecutes violent crime, but also has a heart for our community. I will protect children, families and vulnerable victims; provide equal justice for all; follow and enforce the law; fairly charge allegations, special circumstances, and enhancements which we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt; case-by-case thorough and fair analysis of criminal cases instead of blanket policies or a one size fits all approach; prosecute fentanyl dealers, gun violence, organized retail theft and street takeovers; non-violent mental health, addiction, homeless and veteran’s issues will be towards rehabilitation first by supporting veteran’s court, collaborative courts, diversion and care courts.
- 2. Transparency, Accountability and Real Reforms. A truly transparent DA’s office that holds wrongdoers accountable for their crime, but also works for the community, holds politicians and law enforcement equally accountable if they commit crimes, prioritizes public safety, prosecutes violent crime, collaborates with law enforcement and includes them on our justice team, and also institutes and promotes rehabilitation and reforms for our mental health community, drug & alcohol disease community, homeless & veteran’s community and the juvenile justice system.
- Support Victims and Survivors and Ensure professional opportunity and a stable and caring workplace for all employees of LADA by: • Hiring more Prosecutors, DA Investigators and Support staff • Promoting more Prosecutors, DA Investigators and Support Staff • Obtaining more employee parking, better working conditions, and work-from home accommodations, • Hiring a more diverse workforce • Hiring more victim advocates and supporting victims of crime and Marsy’s Law by fully attending parole hearings • Creating more programs for mental health issues, drug and alcohol disease issues, juvenile justice, diversion, homeless and veterans.
I have fought to protect children by drafting, proposing and testifying on behalf of legislation which provided restitution for counseling, mental health services and noneconomic damages for child victims of sexual abuse. A bill based on my proposal became law in California in 2018.
She is 16-year veteran police officer; mother to two young children; she works as a detective and also works patrol two time per week; she has stood with me through very difficult times; she is my best friend; she has made me a better person, father, and husband; she is supportive, brave, loving, and caring; she has a kind heart; she is an exceptional role model for our children; she is not judgmental and is very understanding; I can talk with her about my child murder cases; she is faithful, beautiful and will always be there for me.
The DA should be a true leader, not a bureaucrat. He must possess integrity and have a plan and mission for public safety and justice and pursue it vigorously and whole-heartedly. Instill hope in others and make a difference for our future generation.
As DA I will do everything in my power to protect our communities especially our children and vulnerable Angelenos and deliver justice; to treat all fairly under the law regardless of ethnicity, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, wealth or other; support victims; and respect the will of the voters through the laws they enact. I will hold everyone who commits a crime, no matter a Republican or Democrat, elected official or not, rich or poor, media case or not, police officer or not, fairly and justly accountable. All will be treated equally.
The DA does not get to pick which laws to follow and which ones to ignore. That is called anarchy, hubris, and narcissism. As DA, I will follow the law, but use what discretionary power I have to ensure the law is applied objectively, fairly, and justly. I will apply the law on a case-by-case basis, prosecute crimes based upon the evidence and make decisions with transparency and accountability.
Justice is not a one-size-fits-all approach and the wholesale non-prosecution of certain crimes and enhancements has only made us less safe. You cannot fix past societal injustices by punishing current victims. We all want to address the over incarceration of low-income people and communities of color but not charging crimes, ignoring violence, refusing to provide basic public safety, and allowing criminals to go free only to commit more crimes and victimize others is not the answer. That is the definition of injustice.
Beverly Hills, El Monte, Hawthorne, Glendale, Claremont, Monterey Park, Bell Gardens, San Gabriel, Bell, Gardena, South Gate, Arcadia & La Verne Police Officers' Associations
District Attorneys Lisa Smittcamp (Fresno); Mike Hestrin (Riverside); Cindy Zimmer (Bakersfield)
Complaints by the public must be addressed timely and with compassion, empathy and understanding. All complaints regarding public corruption and financial transparency must and will be thoroughly and timely investigated under my administration.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Jonathan Hatami campaign website, "Hatami's Story," accessed January 12, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 4, 2024
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