The Elon Musk Funder Trying to Sway the Race for LA’s Top Lawyer

A DSA-backed California prosecutor, Marissa Roy, who helped force Meta to pay a $17 billion settlement, is in contention for the top lawyer position in Los Angeles. However, a tech investor, John Hering, is trying to sway the race in favor of John McKinney, a county prosecutor. Hering has poured over $1.25 million into an effort to defeat Roy and support McKinney, who is running for the office.

Hering is a co-founder of Lookout and has invested heavily in Musk-related ventures, including $700 million in Musk's Twitter takeover and $300 million in his Boring Company. Roy has vowed to use the office's regulatory power against corporations, including Big Tech. Hering, who is part of a group backing McKinney, has been critical of Roy's stance on corporations and Big Tech.

The tech industry is also heavily involved in LA's elections, with Musk alone spending over $442 million in the midterms. Roy has promised to use the city attorney's office to fight for workers against potential wage losses and to take on large corporations and big tech companies.