Los Angeles Sheriff Villanueva Falls Behind in Reelection Bid

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva speaks at a press conference to address vaccine mandates—which he calls an "imminent threat to public safety" if terminations occur in his department as a result of the mandates at a press conference in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 2, 2021. (Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images)

Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who fought back against pandemic mandates and controversies during his first term, was in danger of losing his bid for reelection as early results favored his opponent Nov. 9.

Former Long Beach Chief of Police and Democrat Robert Luna maintained a lead in the race with 56.8 percent of the vote by midday Nov. 9 as Villanueva trailed by about 200,000 votes, earning 43 percent support as of 1 p.m., Nov. 9.

The race tightened slightly overnight as Luna’s initial 60 percent share began to shrink.

“Overnight the polling is trending upward with [election day] ballots in our favor. Like four years ago, we remain optimistic that when all votes are counted, we will be victorious,” Villanueva told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

Villanueva won the June primary, but about 68 percent of the vote went to other opponents. Results appeared to show similar percentages in the general election.

The outspoken sheriff was first elected in 2018 with nearly 53 percent of the vote, unseating Jim McDonnell in his first term.

Villanueva was a little-known lieutenant before taking office at the largest sheriff’s department in the nation in the historic upset. Since taking the helm, he has engaged in public battles with the county’s board of supervisors against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and the board’s efforts to defund the department.

Verbal sparring with the county’s top officials has also escalated in recent months as corruption allegations were raised by both sides.

Los Angeles County saw a large voter turnout of about 1.3 million ballots despite a rainy forecast, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar’s office. That represented about 23 percent of the county’s 5.6 million registered voters, as of 12 p.m., Nov. 9.

Election officials don’t expect to release the final results until all mail-in ballots arrive and are counted, which could take several more days.

This is the first political campaign for Villanueva’s opponent Luna, a former Long Beach Chief of Police and Democrat.

“The first numbers that came out and they look good,” Luna told supporters at a campaign watch party Nov. 8. “Please know that as I stand before you this is my first campaign. And I remember when I first started to tell people, they said … ‘What are you doing?’ And, I said we got to do this. We got to move forward with this. Change needs to occur, and that’s exactly what we did.”

Luna spent 36 years at the Long Beach Police Department, Los Angeles county’s second-largest department, where he was appointed chief of police in 2014. He grew up in East Los Angeles in a neighborhood that was home to low-income Latino immigrants, according to his biography. He lives in Long Beach with his wife and has two adult children.

Luna said he was in favor of addressing crime at the root of the problem and collaborating with community leaders, according to his website. He did not immediately return a request for comment after the election.

Voters Supporting Measure for Supervisors to Remove Sheriff

Once elected, Luna or Villanueva could face additional pressure as the majority of voters appeared to support a measure allowing elected county supervisors the ability to remove an elected sheriff for cause, such as violating laws or neglecting duty. Measure A was headed for passage by 68 percent of voters as of noon Nov. 9.

The measure was proposed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in August after engaging in several battles with Villanueva.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger voted against putting the measure on the ballot, saying in August “the move has the potential to disenfranchise voters.”

“Giving the Board of Supervisors the authority to remove an elected Sheriff unequivocally takes away power from the public,” Barger said in a statement.

The sheriff said the county would likely be sued if the measure passed.

“When you apply an unconstitutional measure, you’re doubling down on bad policy making,” Sheriff Villanueva told ABC7 on election night. “And that’s actually going to put the county in a huge liability. I don’t think they’re even going to use it. It wasn’t their goal.”

The California State Sheriff’s Association and others would take Measure A to court if it passed, he said.