Legal Statement. Villanueva was a little-known lieutenant when he was elected in 2018, becoming the first candidate to unseat an incumbent LA sheriff in more than a century. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The close of polls on a rainy Tuesday night brought an end to a campaign widely viewed as a referendum on Villanueva, a highly controversial figure who battled endlessly with elected officials and others with the authority to oversee him and the department. His current term ends on December 5, 2022. The LA County Registrar-Recorder website posted live results from the election, and as of Tuesday, Luna had received 60 percent of the vote and Villanueva had 40 percent. The sheriffs determined effort to push through a fivefold increase in the number of concealed weapon permits issued in the county has confounded onetime supporters. Previous sheriffs issued few of the permits, which are meant primarily for people who face clear dangers to their safety. SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif. /California Newswire/ -- The campaign to re-elect Sheriff Alex Villanueva announces the launch of its new campaign video airing across local Los Angeles TV stations and online. Britta Steinbrenner, a recently retired sheriffs captain and 35-year-veteran of the department; Sheriffs Sgt. L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva is behind in polls, and his disapproval numbers are high. "What we have now are the first numbers and they look good," said the retired Long Beach police chief, who was flanked onstage by members of his family. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) He's behind in the polls, and his disapproval numbers are high.. During his first election campaign, in 2018, Villanueva ran as a liberal reformer. Alex Villanueva is the Los Angeles County Sheriff in California. The field of opponents include some big names in county law enforcement, including Cecil Rhambo, chief of police for Los Angeles International Airport; Robert Luna, who served as Long Beachs first Latino police chief from 2014 until his retirement in December; and Eliezer Eli Vera, who has accused Villanueva of demoting him after he decided to run against his boss, an allegation the sheriff has denied. Despite many of his opponents saying law enforcement should not be the first or primary point of contact for those who are homeless, Villanueva said the Sheriffs Department must play a larger role. Marc Brown. Sheriff Villanueva has just . The now former sheriff also had a message for the media, thanking them for their patience and encouraging them to continue to speak the truth and be the voice of democracy. After graduating from high school in Puerto Rico, Villanueva served in the United States Air Force and California Air National Guard from 1983 to 1985. He would accomplish these goals, Luna said, by forging stronger relationships with other community players. My best thinking is that he was not a progressive sheriff but he played one on television, said Cynthia Hart, a member of two Democratic clubs that endorsed Villanueva in 2018. Luna, meanwhile, had to work to overcome his obscurity in the county, where the polls showed relatively few knew who he was. Rhambo who has spent more than three decades in county law enforcement, including with the Sheriffs Department also said he wanted to address the agencys deputy gangs, but also wants to stem the continued rise of murders and shootings in Los Angeles. With that voice, he wanted to send a message to those who believed he was defeated. ", L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn congratulated Luna on Twitter, saying, "I stand ready to work with you.". We have a problem, Villanueva told the group. Sheriff, youre the only thing keeping that city, that state, from spiraling into utter chaos, one of the Fox hosts, Brian Kilmeade, told him. Four years later, incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonnell lost his reelection bid during a runoff to Villanueva. It comes as Villanueva launches his reelection campaign and fits in to a broader campaign strategy of trying to vilify and discredit critics and journalists with ad-hominem, unsubstantiated attacks. [18][19] According to an op-ed Villanueva wrote, he hired 1,100 deputies in his first year and banned the recruitment and hiring of out of state applicants for deputy sheriff, believing deputies should reflect the communities they will serve. "So, them trying to paint me somehow as a born-again conservative, the facts don't bear out. Its going to be a revolt of the regular people who want things done.. If we know that someone is in jeopardy of losing their housing, Rhambo said, we would get a rapid response to them if theyre at risk of being evicted.. [5] When Villanueva was nine years old, his family moved to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, where he learned Spanish and walked to school while reading books along the rural back roads beside sugar cane fields. LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva Raises over $1.2 Million for Reelection Campaign - $1M on hand Jan 7, 2022 Campaign to Re-Elect L.A. Sheriff Alex Villanueva Announces First Endorsements and Diverse Veteran Campaign Staff Mar 18, 2022 Campaign Kick-Off March 26 to Re-Elect L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva Mar 25, 2022 Market data provided by Factset. History says theyll face an uphill challenge regardless of the sheriffs political meanderings. We have to problem-solve and at the end of the day, what kind of person fights and calls people names to the same individuals who control your budget?". or redistributed. SANTA FE SPRINGS, Calif., April 28, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The campaign to re-elect Sheriff Alex Villanueva today was officially endorsed by police organizations ALADS and LAAPOA. I'm going to do things based on what's right for public safety outside of partisan labels.". With little reliable, publicly available polling, it is impossible to know with any certainty how most voters in L.A. County feel about Villanuevas job performance since he took office at the end of 2018 and which issues are likely to sway them when the sheriff is on the ballot again in 2022. Durch Klicken auf Alle akzeptieren erklren Sie sich damit einverstanden, dass Yahoo und unsere Partner Ihre personenbezogenen Daten verarbeiten und Technologien wie Cookies nutzen, um personalisierte Anzeigen und Inhalte zu zeigen, zur Messung von Anzeigen und Inhalten, um mehr ber die Zielgruppe zu erfahren sowie fr die Entwicklung von Produkten. The countys Democratic Party and groups on its more liberal flank endorsed him, as did the more conservative union that represents the departments deputies. He said the reason he came to me was he needed someone who would speak truth to power, to tell him that the emperor wasnt wearing any clothes and to give their opinion, Vera said. Legal Statement. Were offering L.A. Times subscribers first access to our best journalism. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva accepted defeat in his pursuit for a second four-year term in the top law enforcement spot to Robert Luna on Tuesday. She said she appreciated his efforts to clean up crime and homelessness, a problem she sees every day driving through Marina del Rey. "[14] He competed against incumbent Sheriff McDonnell and retired Commander Bob Lindsey. But perhaps the biggest obstacle to Villanuevas reelection is a series of controversies within the Sheriffs Department, including allegations that deputy gangs exist within the countys law-enforcement agency. The result comes after Villanueva conceded defeat in a long-winded press conference at the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 15.. Luna, who received 61.26% of the roughly two million votes cast, will be sworn in as Los Angeles County sheriff . During his first election campaign, in 2018, Villanueva ran as a liberal reformer. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Cecil Rhambo is another big name in the race, currently serving as the chief of the Los Angeles Airport Police Division. A sergeant claims in the lawsuit she was targeted by . [32], During his 2018 campaign, Villanueva promised to end the "pipeline to deportation" built upon the sheriff's department's cooperation and financial ties with federal immigration authorities. Los Angeles, CA - February 15: Sheriff Alex Villanueva gives details surrounding a weeklong, statewide operation aimed at combatting human trafficking, at a press conference held in Hall of Justice on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA. Housing is another issue he wants to address, Rhambo said, first by helping those getting out of jails and prisons find a place to live, and by lobbying the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to relax rules that still exclude many people convicted of crimes from Section 8 housing assistance. Strong has also pledged to increase transparency in the department by providing data about stops, arrests, in-custody deaths and more. Tearing it down would mean re-assigning deputies and staff now working there. His second term expires at the end of 2023. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva votes with his wife, LASD Sgt. Thats my way, she said, of bridging the gap between the community and law enforcement.. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. But, Vera said, as soon as Villanueva took office, things changed. He has so far received $1.8 million in donations, more than six times that of his next closest opponent. Luna said he plans to increase transparency in the department to the media and public, as well as to outside observers and oversight organizations. He would do that, he said, by partnering with the Board of Supervisors, collaborating with oversight, creating clear channels of communication with all whom we serve, and setting aside differences for the fulfillment of one common purpose serving the residents of Los Angeles County.. A Times' analysis found that at least 50 people who received permits to carry weapons in public contributed either to Alex Villanueva's first campaign for L.A. County sheriff or his current bid for reelection, and more than half gave the money before being granted a permit. Villanueva also touted his policy of hiring from within the county instead of from out of state or from other parts of California. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva accepted defeat in his pursuit for a second four-year term in the top law enforcement spot to Robert Luna on Tuesday. In the year since the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, the left-leaning elected officials who dominate politics in Los Angeles and other large U.S. cities have been scrambling to assuage demands for meaningful changes to policing. Thank goodness! Hes reveled in publicly rebuking local elected Democrats, including the mayor of Los Angeles, for what he sees as their inept handling of the citys homelessness crisis, and he eagerly joined the campaign to kick the countys ultra-progressive district attorney out of office. Come December this year, theres going to be a new majority in the Board of Supervisors, Villanueva said, and Im confident it will be one of law and order that will invest in public safety and not divest from it.. Villanueva, who had fought hard for the partys support during the election, didnt show up to the virtual meeting to defend himself. With more than 1.2 million ballots counted , Luna had won 56.78% of the votes to Villanueva's 43.22%. He was never who we thought he was, is what I think now.. He would be its fourth sheriff since former Sheriff Lee Baca resigned eight years ago amid a federal corruption probe that ultimately sent him to prison. Villanueva, meanwhile, was left hoping for a comeback. Now, nearly two and half years later . [39][7][40], During the COVID-19 pandemic, Villanueva refused to enforce vaccine requirements for LASD staff. The county's Democratic Party. And to that end, he signed a petition to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascn, and said he supports turning over undocumented immigrants convicted of violent felonies to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. Were recognizing that the threat to the residents is increasing. Something happened with the wine harvest, and it is an upside-down world right now. He didnt elaborate. Without a credible opponent, none of this really matters.. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! So far, four people have filed paperwork to run against Villanueva, and others have signaled plans to do so. He does not support vaccination mandates for county employees, Rodriguez said. Villanueva then earned a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Northridge and a Doctorate of Public Administration from University of La Verne. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, where he worked Lennox and Carson Sheriff Stations, the Community College Bureau, as well as the Advanced Officer Training unit. Villanueva struggled to build momentum throughout the campaign. [9], In 1988, Villanueva initiated the drive to ban smoking in the Los Angeles County jail system as part of a national effort to ban second-hand smoke. I believe that a lot of the misconduct that occurs is untreated PTSD, Luna said. Nov 16, 2022. "I think that people are tired of the ridiculousness of Villanueva.". Weaknecht started his career in the Berks County Sheriff's Office in May of 1984 as a deputy . 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