LA County DA's race: Challengers to George Gascón make final pitch before Election Day

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- On the last day before the election, a number of candidates for the district attorney's race in Los Angeles are meeting with voters.

It is a crowded race with almost a dozen people on the ballot. Each one are trying to show why they are different from the others.

Nathan Hochman wants to remove politics from the DA's office.

"And goes to the hard middle, which looks at each defendant, each crime being committed and the impact on the victim," Hochman said. "To hold the true threats to our public safety behind bars, and quite honestly, the ones who aren't, the nonviolent first-time offender, who can basically be held accountable with community service or diversion, but then hopefully never show up in the criminal justice system again."

Deputy District Attorney John McKinney took part in a phone bank Monday.

"The office is in a state of dysfunction right now, and I can tell you I have been there for 25 years - our office used to be a very well-oiled machine," McKinney said. "All the trains ran on time; now we operate in an atmosphere of confusion and fear."

All of the challengers have a similar message. They say current DA George Gascón has a soft approach on crime and the county has seen an increase in smash-and-grab robberies and homicides.

Jon Hatami prosecuted a number of child abuse cases.

"People know me as being very, very empathetic to others, especially to children, but here's the thing: the DA needs to prosecute crime," Hatami said. "So if people are committing crimes, the DA needs to do the job of the DA which is to prosecute cases. I don't believe in George Gascón's policies. His policies were very blanket ... it applied to every single case."

Eric Siddall is also a violent-crimes prosecutor and deputy district attorney.

"I think we need to hold people accountable. That's our job, that's our primary job, and then if people want to rehabilitate, if they're seeking that path, I'm open to that," Siddall said. "But there has to be accountability first and then rehabilitation after that. There has to be an acknowledgment of the crime that was committed."

Jeff Chemerinsky held a campaign event with progressive Democrats in Elysian Valley. He says he wants to address environmental issues and agrees with Gascón on some reform issues.

"With my candidacy, Democrats have an alternative to George Gascón," Chemerinsky said. "I will keep you and your family safe, be committed to reform and provide effective leadership from the district attorney's office."

According to his office, Gascón was not campaigning Monday.

With so many candidates, the results will be very close and every vote will count, so they will continue campaigning Tuesday right up to the moment the polls close.