Former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hochman holds a decisive lead over incumbent Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, a new poll revealed Monday.

The survey, conducted by researchers at USC, CSU Long Beach and Cal Poly Pomona, shows Gascón trailing his challenger by 24 points. About 44% of likely voters said they plan to support Hochman while 20% back Gascón. Nearly 33% of voters remain undecided, according to the poll. 

Gascón’s support has remained stagnant since the March primary when he received about 25% of the vote. Hochman’s support, on the other hand, has grown since the primary where he received nearly 16% of the vote among the crowded field with 10 other candidates.

“The poll also shows that voters are concerned about crime, and those with crime concerns are more likely to support Hochman,” said Christian Grose, professor of political science and international relations and public policy at the USC Price School of Public Policy. 

Concerns over public safety appear to be driving support for Proposition 36, which would strengthen criminal penalties for repeat offenders of drug and theft crimes. 

Despite opposition from prominent Democratic leaders, 57.9% of likely California voters back the measure. The proposition would roll back key provisions of a 2014 ballot initiative that aimed to address prison overcrowding by reclassifying some theft and drug-related offenses as misdemeanors.  

The California Secretary of State’s office says counties will start sending out ballots to voters on Oct. 7th. 

Prosecutors filed murder, kidnapping, robbery, and carjacking charges Monday against the man suspected of hijacking an LA Metro bus last week, murdering a passenger, and leading police on an hour-long chase through downtown Los Angeles.

Lamont A. Campbell faces a total of 12 counts, including a special allegations for the use of a gun during the crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The criminal complaint revealed that at least 1 of the passengers on the hijacked bus was robbed during the ordeal, but officials said the motive behind Campbell’s alleged actions were still, “under investigation.”

“If Mr. Campbell is found guilty he’s facing a total of 90 years, 9 months to life in prison,” said LA County District Attorney George Gascón.

Campbell, 51, was arrested last week after LAPD SWAT officers stormed the bus, rescued the bus operator, and tried to save a wounded passenger, later identified as Anthony Rivera, who was bleeding from a gunshot wound to his thigh.

Rivera, 48, died at a hospital.

He was riding the Metro bus to commute home from his job at Dodger Stadium when it was commandeered.

“I just want justice for my boy,” Rivera’s mother Teresa told the I-Team last week, when she and other members of her family demanded that officials improve safety on public transit lines.

Several other passengers on the bus were described in court papers filed Monday as victims of various crimes that occurred during the hijacking.

LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who also chairs the Metro transit system board of directors, said crime that occurs on the Metro system is often a reflection of what goes on in the communities it serves.

“But when it happens on a Metro bus or a train, it obviously becomes national news,” Hahn said.

“And I think we’re not the only city that’s even had a bus hijacking, I think that happened in a couple of other cities across the country,” she said.

Hahn said she supports the installation of some kind of screening system to prevent people from carrying weapons on to busses or trains, and said she’d like to see a more visible law enforcement presence.

Campbell was set to make an initial appearance in court in Downtown LA Monday but refused to be brought into the courtroom, according to reporters monitoring the proceeding. Officials expected Campbell to be brought to court Tuesday for an arraignment.

Court and prison records showed Campbell had previously served 2 terms in state prison on narcotics trafficking or sales convictions, and in 2018 pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor drug possession charge.

Gascón said Monday there were also several older arrests involving violence that did not lead to prosecutions, and that Campbell was last arrested in 2020 on suspicion of drug sales.

Gov. Gavin Newsom Monday signed a bill into law to ban the farming of octopuses and farmed octopus sales.

Under AB 3162, also known as the California Oppose Cruelty to Octopuses (OCTO) Act, authored by Assemblymember Steve Bennett whose 38th District includes Oxnard, Ventura and the Channel Islands, it is illegal for anyone to engage in the aquaculture of octopuses meant for human consumption. 

The new law also bans business owners or operators from knowingly selling octopuses that came from octopus farms. 

Although octopuses may not be part of an average Californian’s meal plans, those who support AB 3162 argue that as the popularity of the sea animals for human consumption exploded in the last 50 years, there is also a growing interest in developing octopus aquaculture. 

The new law to ban octopus farming was initially proposed based on two reasons: Cruelty against octopuses, which are known to have a high level of cognitive ability, and environmental concerns. 

“Octopuses are among the most intelligent, complex life on Earth. Farming them is not only inhumane but poses significant environmental risks,” Assemblymember Laura Friedman, who sponsored the bill, said to an animal advocacy group. “Rather than turning to unproven ‘farming’ methods to raise and slaughter octopuses, we should be protecting our marine ecosystem to better enable marine species to rebound.”  

There is no known large-scale octopus farming and harvesting in California, but the law would take a proactive step in promoting animal welfare, allowing California to become the second state in the U.S. to ban the aquaculture of octopuses, supporters said. 

Octopus farming also poses environmental consequences, the bill’s author said, because aquaculture facilities pose a risk of nitrogen and phosphorus runoff, which could lead to pollution and potential algal blooms, which could be devastating to California’s marine ecosystems. 

The new law still allows the fishing of octopuses with a permit in state waters as long as the daily limit does not exceed 35 octopuses. 

While there were no opponents to the bill, a number of environmental groups supported the bill.