Palo Alto Police Chief Bob Jonsen and retired Santa Clara County sheriff’s captain Kevin Jensen seem headed for a November runoff to switch outgoing six-term Sheriff Laurie Smith, primarily based on main returns posted Tuesday night time.
With an estimated 52% of ballots counted in line with the county registrar, Jonsen had garnered about 34% of the vote, adopted by Jensen — who ran in opposition to Smith in 2014 — who tallied about 30%.
The 2 different eligible candidates, correctional sergeants Christine Nagaye and Sean Allen, acquired about 19% and 13% of the preliminary returns.
Jonsen is the lone outsider within the sheriff’s race, and had a prolonged profession within the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Division earlier than he headed to the Bay Space up to now decade to turn out to be chief of Menlo Park police, adopted by his present stint in Palo Alto.
“I’m feeling inspired, however we've got a protracted option to go,” Jonsen stated Tuesday night time. “What that is displaying is that voters have belief in my background and management, which I’m humbled by. Folks imagine it's time for a contemporary perspective, and my expertise provides me a possibility to deal with the challenges this division is confronted with.”
Jonsen, who grew up within the North Bay, additionally claims a household connection to the publish he's pursuing: His nice uncle, Jonathan Sweigert, was Santa Clara County sheriff from 1887 to 1891.
Jensen, who spent his whole profession with the sheriff’s workplace, was the frontrunner throughout the company, having garnered union endorsements from each the patrol and enforcement deputies, and the correctional deputies and officers, in addition to a lion’s share of the law-enforcement institution within the South Bay.
He stated he anticipated that a runoff was within the playing cards, however that he's assured that his backing and expertise with the interior workings of the sheriff’s workplace will show to be robust belongings in November.
“I’m proud to nonetheless be within the struggle I’ve been in for 12 years to revive the integrity of the sheriff’s workplace,” Jensen stated Tuesday. “No one is aware of the division higher than me. It’s going to come back right down to expertise.”
In a press release late Tuesday, Nagaye congratulated Jonsen and Jensen, and stated she's going to work with them to make the institutional adjustments she ran on.
“I pledge to do every little thing in my energy to assist whoever wins, though I'm involved the a lot wanted adjustments won't be made with both of them fulfilling this position,” she stated. “We're in determined want for regulation enforcement reform within the sheriff’s workplace, and tonight’s outcomes have solely strengthened my resolve to be part of that.”
The query of whether or not the county would get a brand new sheriff was answered in March when Smith formally introduced that she wouldn't run for a seventh time period, a choice that had been anticipated since final fall, as months glided by with no signal of Smith launching a re-election marketing campaign or partaking in any fundraising.
Her determination in opposition to a re-election bid was preceded by a sequence of scandals, chief amongst them a corruption indictment alleging that a previous fundraising ally, her undersheriff, a captain and shut adviser, and different supporters conspired to dealer concealed-carry weapon (CCW) permits for political assist and favors. However final fall additionally noticed her workplace come below scrutiny from the Board of Supervisors over her administration and perceived coverup of main jail-inmate accidents that prompted thousands and thousands of dollars in county settlements.
That criticism spurred an investigation by the state lawyer basic and direct corruption accusations in opposition to Smith herself by the county’s Civil Grand Jury, involving the CCW controversy and an allegation she has resisted a civilian auditor’s investigation into one of many jail-injury instances. A responsible discovering of any of the accusations would compel her elimination from workplace if the civil trial finishes earlier than her time period does, in January 2023.
Examine again later for updates to this story.