Alex Villanueva scored an upset win Monday in the race for Los Angeles County sheriff, making Jim McDonnell the first incumbent to lose the seat in more than a century.
Villanueva, a retired sheriff’s lieutenant, proclaimed victory last week. But McDonnell had declined to concede, saying he would wait for all the votes to be counted in the contest to lead the nation’s largest sheriff’s department. He finally admitted defeat Monday after updated election results showed Villanueva leading by nearly 126,000 votes with only 100,000 ballots left to be counted, according to City News Service.
McDonnell promised an orderly transition of power in a statement released Monday, nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election. “The honor of serving as the LA County Sheriff is one like no other in law enforcement,” the statement said. “The Sheriff will be immediately faced with a range of very complex issues that go to the heart of maintaining public safety and public trust.” Villanueva is expected to be sworn in next week. So what will the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department look like under new head Alex Villanueva? You can read more about the sheriff’s race at LAist.com
With files from the Associated Press
We reached out to Alex Villanueva for an interview, who has not responded to our request by air time
Guests:
Jim McDonnell, outgoing Los Angeles County Sheriff
Ron Hernandez, president of the board of the Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS), the union representing rank-and-file Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies which endorsement Alex Villanueva
Robert Bonner, member of the Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence, which was established in 2011 to examine deputy use of force in the jails; former United States District Judge; former Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration