Politics

Election 2014: Los Angeles County voters decide who's in runoff for sheriff, supervisor

Los Angeles County Sheriff candidate Jim McDonnell greets supporters at his election gathering at the JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles on primary night.
Maya Sugarman/KPCC

KPCC staff | June 3, 2014

Update 11:27 p.m. McDonnell easily heading for November runoff

L.A. County Sheriff candidate Jim McDonnell easily won the primary. With more than half of precincts reporting, he had 47 percent of the votes. McDonnell, a former LAPD assistant chief who now leads the Long Beach Police Department, had the backing of many leading law enforcement officials.

If McDonnell wins the primary, he will be the first outsider to lead the department in decades. He would inherit a troubled agency that has seen 20 deputies indicted for various federal crimes.

"That's a failure of leadership," McDonnell said Tuesday night. "That never should have happened. Those 20 deputies came on the job to do a good job, to have a family and to be able to have a successful career. And something happened between the time they came on and when they were federally indicted and that was a lack of leadership."

McDonnell's backers included current LAPD chief Charlie Beck, former chief Bill Bratton, and L.A. District Attorney Jackie Lacey.

Lacey was among the guests at McDonnell's election night party at L.A. Live's JW Marriott Hotel. Also in attendance was County Supervisor Don Knabe, who said his first phone call after finding out Sheriff Lee Baca would retire was to McDonnell: "I dialed Jimmy and I said, 'Chief, you got to do what you got to do.'"

Also on hand was former LAPD commissioner Alan Skobin, who's chairing an independent expenditure committee that's raising money for McDonnell's campaign. — Alice Walton

Update 10:03 p.m. Shriver hoping for a little Irish luck

County Supervisor candidate Bobby Shriver's late mother, Eunice, was a Kennedy — the famous Irish-American political dynasty. And so it was wholly appropriate that Shriver's election night party was at O'Brien's Irish Pub in Santa Monica.

"I want to continue telling my story and [touting] my record, and I think that when that story is told, I'll win," Shriver said.

Shriver doesn't buy opponent Sheila Kuehl's argument that her years in the state legislature give her the advantage over his experience in Santa Monica city politics and as a businessman and philanthropist.

"It's America," Shriver said. "There should be competition, there's going to be more competition." — Sharon McNary

Shriver's election night party

Update 8:58 p.m. Kuehl believes she's headed for the runoff

Sheila Kuehl's election night party is at The Victorian, a large house that's been turned into a restaurant on Main Street in Santa Monica, a couple of blocks from the beach. The early results from absentee voters put her ahead of Bobby Shriver by about 3,000 votes in the race for county supervisor, an early success that buoyed the mellow crowd.

Kuehl said, "Shriver can make a good supervisor, but I will make a better supervisor. County supervisor is not an entry-level position."

Shriver is a former Santa Monica city councilman and mayor.

Kuehl said if she ends up in the runoff, she will abide by the voluntary spending ceiling of $1.4 million in the general election. Under county rules, she would not have to observe the spending limit if another candidate rejects it, as Shriver did in the primary campaign. — Sharon McNary

Update 8:43 p.m. Tanaka optimistic about his chances

Sheriff candidate Paul Tanaka arrived at Cherrystones Restaurant in Gardena, the same place he held his first political fundraiser in 1998 when he ran for city council in this Southwest L.A. County town. Tanaka, who has never lost an election and is now Gardena's mayor, has held all of his election night parties here.

"I certainly feel good about the campaign we ran," Tanaka told reporters outside the restaurant. "We clearly spelled out my qualifications."

Tanaka was the lightning rod in this campaign because he was the former number two in command at the sheriff's department under Lee Baca, who stepped down earlier this year. Both men were heavily criticized by the Citizens Commission on Jail Violence.

As for the allegations of his own wrongdoing at the department, Tanaka said: "The voters will tell us what they think today...I'm confident my actions were lawful. If I thought anything different, I wouldn't be standing here."

Reporters were barred from entering the restaurant after being told the restaurant is too small to accommodate them. — Frank Stoltze

Tanaka's election night gathering

Previously: When Lee Baca stepped down as Los Angeles County sheriff earlier this year, he opened the floodgates for possible successors.

There are seven contenders on the ballot, and all but one have current or previous ties to the department.

It's unlikely anyone will get 50 percent of the vote, so there will likely be a runoff in November.

Term limits have forced Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky to give up their seats on the powerful L.A. County Board of Supervisors. Former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is running for Molina's seat with just token opposition. She could win a majority of the vote Tuesday and avoid a runoff.

The race for Yaroslavsky's seat is much more competitive. Former state legislator Sheila Kuehl and former Santa Monica city councilman/mayor Bobby Shriver seemed destined for the runoff, but West Hollywood Councilman John Duran is hoping to sneak in after receiving endorsements from the L.A. Times and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti.