For the primary elections for the position of city attorney to be held on June 2, four candidates are running: the incumbent Hydee Feldstein Soto; Aida Ashouri, John McKinney and Marissa Roy.
All candidates define themselves as non-partisan, due to the nature of the position.
In 2022, this publication supported the first candidacy of Feldstein Soto, who won the elections with 55% of the vote to become the city’s 43rd lawyer, the first woman, the first Latina and the first Jewish. He took office on December 12.
La Opinión considers that Feldstein Soto is the most suitable for the position and supports her re-election.
The city attorney is not a politician, a legislator or an executive. That’s what the mayor and councilors are for.
The Los Angeles lawyer is the perfect advisor to the city government – the Mayor and City Council – and represents it in civil actions.
Their responsibilities include the application, implementation and compliance of laws within their jurisdiction. She is also the advisor to the hundreds of boards, departments, officials and entities that make up the City. Additionally, as a prosecutor, he oversees the prosecution of misdemeanor crimes (such as DUI, vandalism, or theft) and the administration of criminal justice. And in addition, he must prepare and approve contracts and other legal relationships of the City of Los Angeles, including the laws approved by the Council.
In immigration matters, Feldstein Soto has intervened in lawsuits to stop raids and operations that he considers unconstitutional. In addition, draft ordinances for the LAPD to verify the identity of any federal agent who requests its intervention. He also supports banning the use of city property for federal immigration enforcement.
To carry out this task, he heads an office – created in 1850 – with more than 1,000 employees, including about 550 lawyers.
As promised in 2022, it focused on the fight against domestic violence, and the prosecution of violent conduct, price abuse and unfair competition.
He led the class-action lawsuit to stop immigration raids in Los Angeles, as well as several lawsuits for sexual abuse and child trafficking and lawsuits against companies for taking advantage of the public after the 2025 fires.
The office is made up of five divisions: municipal; civil litigation; penal; real estate and public rights.
Feldstein Soto was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico 68 years ago. He earned his BA from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and JD law degree from Columbia Law School, New York City in 1982, after which he moved to Los Angeles.
Upon assuming his position, Feldstein Soto inherited a department in turbulence and crisis. His office was raided by the FBI; In the city government, three councilors had been accused and found guilty of corruption. Two months before taking office, the historic scandal broke out in which councilors Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León were involved and which led to the end of their political careers. Feldstein Soto had to deal with all that baggage and stabilize his department.
Feldstein Soto has the support of federal senator Adam Schiff and congressmen Nanette Barragán, Robert García, Ted Lieu and Luz Rivas; LA County Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Janice Hahn; state senators Bob Archuleta, Laura Richardson, Susan Rubio and Henry Stern; Assembly members Jessica Caloza, Mike Fong, Mike Gipson, Impress Gonzalez, John Harabedian, Blanca Pacheco and Blanca Rubio; Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Council Members President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Tem Bob Blumenfield, John Lee, Tim McOsker, Heather Hutt and Traci Park.
His tenure was not without problems, such as his apparent support for lifting, in October 2025, the court order prohibiting the use of non-lethal force by the LAPD against journalists covering protests. Feldstein Soto had his reasons, citing “operational difficulties” and “security risks,” but the action was reversed by the Council and rejected by a judge. But the facts of the case do not detract from the major contribution he made in all areas over the past four years.
For all this, La Opinión considers that Hydee Feldstein Soto has the necessary qualities to serve the inhabitants of Los Angeles as their lawyer and that she deserves to be re-elected in the upcoming elections.
