Villanueva concedes defeat as ballot count continues

LOS ANGELES – Sheriff Alex Villaneuva conceded defeat Tuesday in his re-election bid, but in doing so, he again lashed out at his critics for pushing what he called “false narratives” about his leadership of the department.

Villanueva has been consistently trailing former Long Beach police Chief Robert Luna as results from last week’s election continued to be tallied. Updated vote totals released Monday by the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office showed Luna with 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%.

There are an estimated 655,300 ballots left to be processed, according to the clerk’s office. Another update of the voting totals is expected to be released Tuesday afternoon.

“I want to wish the incoming sheriff well,” Villanueva said during an afternoon news conference. “I want him to succeed for a simple reason — the safety of the community depends on him succeeding. The welfare of every single person on the department depends on him succeeding.”

“… Again, we wish Mr. Luna well, and like I said before, the narrative of the political establishment and the media is not the narrative of the people who are struggling to survive day by day. … That disconnect is real.”

He added, “One thing I’ve learned also is that speaking truth to power is not without risks. I remember a politician that I met early on, they told me you can be a reformer or you can be reelected. You’ve got to pick one. I’m proud to say I’m a reformer. I have no desire to abandon who I am, and my principles, just to get elected.

” … I’ve faced adversity throughout my career in law enforcement because I’ve always spoke truth to power, never batted an eye. And in our meetings, our executive meetings, every meeting that we had when we had to make a decision the very first thing was, `what’s the right thing to do.’ And the second thing was, OK, make it happen. … Every adversity I’ve faced throughout my years in law enforcement has always propelled me to a bigger stage, a bigger audience, and a bigger voice.”

Villanueva’s voice cracked slightly with emotion as he wrapped up his roughly 20-minute remarks, saying, “If there are people who think somehow we’re defeated, quite the opposite. We’re walking out of here with our heads high. We accomplished the mission we set out to be, we could have used probably four more years to solidify it, but we set a very high standard.”

Following Villanueva’s concession, Luna issued a statement, starting with “Thank you, L.A. County.”

“I’m deeply honored and humbled that you have elected me as your next sheriff. With your vote, you have entrusted me with a clear mandate to bring new leadership and accountability to the sheriff’s department. And that’s exactly what I will do.

“I want to offer my best wishes to Sheriff Villanueva and his family. And I look forward to working with the talented and courageous sworn and professional staff of the sheriff’s department who are dedicated to keeping our communities safe.”

Villanueva shared a list of major accomplishments achieved during his tenure, including addressing homelessness, revising the body-worn camera program, reinstating the issuance of concealed weapon permits, and managing the jail system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

His defeat marks the second straight election in which an incumbent sheriff was unseated, something that hadn’t occurred for roughly a century prior. Villaneuva ousted Sheriff Jim McDonnell four years ago.

Villanueva’s victory four years ago came with strong backing from reform-minded community groups and Democrats. But over the past four years, Villanueva’s support among those groups has waned as he repeatedly clashed with the Democrat-dominated Board of Supervisors over funding and policy matters.