JOHN MCKINNEY

Why Thrive LA endorses JOHN

John McKinney is a Deputy District Attorney with nearly 30 years of prosecutorial experience in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, where he currently serves as Director of Specialized Prosecutions. In that role, he oversees eight divisions covering juveniles, family violence, sex crimes, narcotics, major crimes, and gang homicide. He earned his J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 1997 and has tried over 100 jury trials, including nearly 40 murder cases with a reported 97% conviction rate. The City Attorney's office is the legal backbone of Los Angeles. It drafts the laws the Council passes, defends the city in court, and prosecutes misdemeanor crimes that drive residents out of their neighborhoods. Since 2020, the city has paid out nearly $1.1 billion in liability settlements and judgments. That is not a legal department performing at the level this city demands. McKinney would bring a prosecutor's discipline to an office that desperately needs it: aggressive risk management to reduce costly payouts, early settlement of meritorious claims, vigorous defense against frivolous ones, and far less outsourcing of legal work to expensive private law firms. McKinney's public safety credentials are unmatched in this race. He has spent his entire career in prosecution and law enforcement partnership, and his priorities reflect the quality-of-life issues Angelenos raise at every town hall: repeat offenders, organized retail theft, street racing, open-air drug markets, and illegal firearms. On homelessness, he supports an enforcement-based approach that keeps sidewalks passable, protects parks and schools, and addresses dangerous encampments, combining accountability with diversion programs rather than a permissive, services-only model. His endorsement from the Los Angeles Police Protective League is the clearest signal that the officers who do the work trust him to back them up. He also carries endorsements from District Attorney Nathan Hochman, former District Attorneys Steve Cooley and Jackie Lacey, Councilmembers Traci Park, Tim McOsker, John Lee, and Monica Rodriguez, the LA Daily News editorial board, and the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles. John McKinney is the experienced, results-driven City Attorney Los Angeles needs.