Despite receiving the most votes in Tuesday’s sheriff primary election in Los Angeles County, Villanueva was unable to collect at least 50 percent of the vote, which would have prevented the need for a runoff election in November.
Alex Villanueva, the incumbent Sheriff of Los Angeles County and a staunch opponent of both vaccine mandates and defunders, made it through Tuesday’s primary election unscathed but will have to run again in November.
The Associated Press reports that Villanueva received 34 percent of the vote, falling just shy of the majority of votes necessary to avoid a runoff election which was set at 50 percent. Robert Luna, the former chief of police in Long Beach, finished in second place on Tuesday with 25 percent of the vote, putting him in a position of considerable advantage over the other eight contenders.
All of the other candidates received fewer than 10 percent of the vote, except the Lieutenant Eric Strong of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, who came in third place with 13 percent of the vote. Former LASD assistant chief Cecil Rhambo garnered 8% of the vote, followed by LASD Sergeant Karla Carranza (5%), Retired LASD Captain Britta Steinbrenner (5%), Retired LASD Captain Matt Rodriguez (4%), and State Parole Agent April Saucedo Hood (2%).
Luna does not have any prior connections with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
