Los Angeles County voters head to the polls today, Tuesday Nov. 8, to decide who will be Los Angeles County sheriff.
Today is the last day to cast ballots for the 2022 general election. Polls close at 8 p.m., with the early results — composed of vote-by-mail ballots that arrived before Election Day — expected to be released soon after that.
Check back here for updates on the results of this race.
The winner, whether incumbent Sheriff Alex Villanueva or his challenger Robert Luna, the former Long Beach police chief, will lead the largest sheriff’s department in the U.S., providing law enforcement for more than 10 million people. The sheriff manages 18,000 employees who serve 141 unincorporated communities and 42 contract cities. His department also oversees the jails and staffs patrols of bus and train depots for L.A. County Metro.
Villanueva has been combative and outspoken, investigating his political rivals and fighting an Office of Inspector General probe into allegations that deputy gangs existed in his department.
He says the independence of the department is at stake and that the Board of Supervisors, inspector general, District Attorney’s Office and a county Civilian Oversight Commission are working to defeat him.
Luna, who came in a close second in the June primary, said he welcomes collaboration from the Board of Supervisors, other county departments and academicians.
Villanueva beat incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonnell in 2018, making him the first candidate to beat an incumbent L.A. County sheriff in 100 years. Retiring from the Sheriff’s Department after 32 years, Villanueva ran as a progressive. But he soon moved to the right and has had a contentious relationship with the mostly Democratic L.A. County Board of Supervisors who hold sway over his budget.
The supervisors have tried to remove him at least twice but were unsuccessful. They’ve placed Measure A on the ballot, which would give them the unusual power to unseat an elected sheriff.
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When asked about witnesses who told attorneys at the Civilian Oversight Commission that deputy sheriff gangs, called the Banditos, operated out of the Sheriff’s Department’s East Los Angeles Station, Villanueva called the claims “a sick joke.”
“I don’t think there ever had been (deputy) gang members,” he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Daily News. “They have fraternal groups, especially when drinking is involved. That is nothing unusual.”
Luna said the sheriff is denying there is a major problem in the department and says the deputy gangs are “well documented.” If elected, he said he would ask the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and bring more transparency to the department. “We need accountability,” Luna told this newspaper.
Luna was endorsed by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, L.A Mayor Eric Garcetti, the five members of the Board of Supervisors, and the seven candidates who ran for sheriff in the June primary, including Sheriff Lt. Eric Strong, who investigated deputy gangs, and LAX Police Chief Cecil Rhambo.
Villanueva was endorsed by the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, former state Sen. Gloria Romero and former L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley.
Related links
Election 2022: Sheriff Villanueva faces current and former police chiefs in reelection bid
Election 2022: Villanueva, ex-Long Beach chief Luna headed for runoff for LA County sheriff
Judge rules Sheriff Villanueva must testify about deputy gangs
Measure empowering LA County Supervisors to remove elected sheriff will be on November ballot
Election 2022: LA County sheriff Alex Villanueva in tight fight on Nov. 8 against challenger Robert Luna