George Gascón and Nathan Hochman set to debate in final stretch of L.A. County D.A. race

L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascón and his opponent in the race for his office, former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, have agreed to a debate next month to be presented by KNX News and the Los Angeles Times.

The debate will air live at 5 p.m. Pacific time on Oct. 8 on KNX (97.1 FM and 1070 AM) and the digital and social platforms of The Times and KNX.

The showdown in the hotly contested race comes at a pivotal moment in the closing weeks before the Nov. 5 vote. The candidates are selling voters vastly different visions of crime and justice in L.A. County. Polling indicates that Hochman, with his pledge to reverse many of Gascón's progressive policies, has strong momentum in the race.

Gascón will seek to defend his record of reform-minded policies aimed at reducing prison populations and instituting alternative approaches to prosecution and punishment.

Hochman is pitching himself as a more traditional prosecutor, tough on crime but still focused on stemming mass incarceration.

The candidates have rarely gone head-to-head so far in the campaign. At last week’s Zoom forum hosted by Jewish Federation Los Angeles, they squared off for the first time, trading polite barbs as technical difficulties and a rapid-fire format left room for further dialogue.

In the October debate, both candidates will seek to break through to voters in what could be their final face-off before election day.

Viewers can listen for free on KNX News (97.1 FM and 1070 AM) or watch via streaming video on latimes.com , KNXNews.com , the L.A. Times app or the L.A. Times YouTube channel .

The debate’s moderators are KNX anchor Mike Simpson and chief correspondent Charles Feldman. Times reporters James Queally and Brittny Mejia and KNX News reporter Emily Valdez will serve as panelists.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .