Luna again pads his lead in bid to unseat Sheriff Villanueva

LOS ANGELES (CNS) — Former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna again stretched his lead, Monday, as vote-counting continued in his bid to unseat incumbent Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

According to updated vote totals released, Monday, by the county Registrar-Recorder/ County Clerk’s Office, Luna had a lead of 324,837 votes, up from 259,184 when the last update was released, on Saturday.

The results from last Tuesday’s election currently stand at 987,730 votes for Luna, or 59.8%, and 662,893 for Villanueva, or 40.2%.

The next update will be released, this afternoon, according to election officials.

“So far, the returns look good, and our campaign has a significant lead,” Luna said in a statement, last Wednesday, as initial results were being released. “And I believe that as more votes are counted in the days ahead, I’ll continue to maintain a lead in this race. LA County voted for change, and if I’m elected sheriff, I’ll bring new leadership, accountability and effective strategies to reduce crime.”

Luna is looking to pull off a rare accomplishment by unseating a sitting sheriff.

Villanueva’s victory four years ago over incumbent Jim McDonnell marked the first time in roughly a century that a sheriff had lost a re- election bid in the county. But now Villanueva finds himself in danger of meeting the same fate at the hands of Luna.

The sheriff expressed confidence, however, that he would make up the deficit from early balloting as vote counting continued over the coming week.

“Let’s see what the vote says,” he told KCAL9 at his Monterey Park election night party, Tuesday. “… I think people just want to see the things that matter to them addressed — homelessness and violent crime.”

The candidates ran a spirited campaign, with Luna attacking the incumbent over his torrid relationship with the county Board of Supervisors and accusing him of ignoring the issue of deputy gangs within the department. Villanueva has deflected such criticism, saying his battles with the Board show he is a fierce defender of the department and its deputies, and insisting that he has gone to great lengths to attack and ban alleged deputy cliques in the agency.