Some view the D.A. race in L.A. as a referendum on the state of public safety in the nation’s most populous county.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has lost his reelection battle against former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, the Associated Press projects.

Oakland voters were asked in Tuesday’s election whether to recall their own district attorney, Pamela Price, another progressive prosecutor, but it was too early to call. Gascón co-authored a ballot measure passed by California voters in 2014 that ...