Marissa Roy becomes second woman in LA history to win city attorney bid

Voters have chosen Marissa Roy as the next official legal advisor and general counsel for the City of Los Angeles. 

Roy defeated John McKinney in one of the most impactful and important, yet misunderstood, positions in a city of 3.87 million residents, most of whom are Latinos. 

McKinney conceded the race.

As of Monday afternoon, Roy had received 68% of the votes, against McKinney's 31%.

Roy’s win for the L.A. city attorney position ends the race against McKinney that began earlier in the spring after incumbent Hydee Feldstein Soto was ousted. 

“I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished together and I can’t wait to get to work. Thank you Los Angeles,” Roy wrote in an Instagram post celebrating her win. “Because of these results the justice you deserve is the justice you can expect.”

Roy, a deputy attorney general in the California Department of Justice, won against McKinney, an L.A. County deputy district attorney with nearly 30 years of legal experience. 

Now, as city attorney, Roy will serve the city and its residents by providing legal services, promoting public safety and pursuing justice in the city's criminal justice system. In other words, the city attorney counsels the city on legal matters, writes and drafts city laws and ordinances requested by the council, defends and represents the city in lawsuits and prosecutes misdemeanor crimes, such as minor offenses.

According to a poll released last week by UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by the L.A. Times, 45% of voters were still undecided ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

The same poll showed that 36% of likely voters favored Roy, versus 19% who said they've bubbled in for McKinney. 

Roy launched her campaign in early 2025 to be “the people's lawyer.” Now, the 34-year-old is set to become the city’s 44th city attorney and the second woman in the history of L.A. to hold such a position.

Roy was endorsed by big-name groups and individuals including the U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Bernie Sanders, L.A. County Supervisors Hilda Solis and L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia, as well as the L.A. County Democratic Party, California Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists of America-Los Angeles.

Roy grew up in Monrovia, a city in the San Gabriel Valley of L.A. County and about 30 minutes away from Downtown L.A.

As the new Los Angeles city attorney, Roy will take office on the second Monday of December 2026. 

To view the previously published feature story on Roy, click here.