By Mathew Seibert & Helen Greenia
ANAHEIM, CA – There has been a drastic increase in murders since Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer took office in January 2019, charged his challenger in the DA race this week.
Combat Veteran and Deputy District Attorney Pete Hardin, who’s running for DA, expressed his concern over the recent large surge of homicides in the county.
Hardin responded to recently released data from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and charged, “Since Todd Spitzer became District Attorney our community has experienced a wave of violence not seen since the 1990s.” 
Hardin explained, “From facing at least five sexual harassment lawsuits to being kicked off a sexual assault case for mistreating survivors, Todd is evidently too distracted retaliating against victims and protecting his friends than to do his job.”
There have also been multiple reports that show crime has substantially increased in the county while Spitzer has been DA.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office reported that during Spitzer’s term in office, homicides reached levels that have not been seen for about 20 years. Not only did they increase, but they have increased every single year he has been in office, according to the statistics released.
The DOJ also reported that, while homicides were increasing during the Spitzer administration, assaults with a firearm increased 29 percent.
According to the Human Relations Commission’s annual report, there was an increase in hate crimes by 1800 percent from 2020 to 2021, with the AAPI community being most affected. In addition, homelessness has also increased by 40 percent since Spitzer took office.
Spitzer is guilty of outing victims of sexual harassment in his office, said opponents, and according to the Orange County Register, he “provided an employee’s personnel information to a reporter in May 2021, to deflect the negative evidence about his own actions during the Logalbo [sexual harassment] investigation.”
In addition, Spitzer is being sued for defaming a victim advocate.
