Los Angeles County Sheriff Election Results

1942-2022

Incumbent candidates seeking reelection do not want to face runoff elections. The very fact that they face a runoff is because more than half of voters chose not to reelect them. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva will be facing a runoff in November against former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna. Villanueva comes out of the primary with less than a third of the vote. This gives him the lowest percentage of votes for any incumbent Los Angeles County sheriff in at least 80 years. Although anything is possible, historical patterns do not favor his odds of being reelected in the November runoff. Since at least 1942, only two incumbent Los Angeles County Sheriffs have had to face a runoff election. In neither case was the incumbent reelected. In fact, it was ironically Villanueva who defeated incumbent Sheriff McDonnell in 2018 in the runoff election of that year. McDonnell even had a much higher percentage of votes in that year's primary (47.6%) than does Villanueva in this year's primary (30.7%). In the other case, in 1998, Sheriff Sherman Block died just days before the runoff election that pitted him against his former chief deputy, Lee Baca (see story block at end of this page). The Block example, however, doesn't really offer meaningful insight into Villanueva's odds in November. We might also look at other countywide office runoffs involving incumbents in Los Angeles County. In the last 80 years, incumbent Los Angeles County District Attorneys faced runoff elections four times. Most recently, in 2020, D.A. Jackie Lacey, despite garnering almost 49 percent of the primary vote, was defeated by George Gascón in that runoff. Of four incumbent D.A.'s who faced runoffs, only one ended up being reelected. Gil Garcetti was reelected in the 1996 runoff, coming out of the primary with only 37 percent of the vote. However, in 2000, after facing yet another runoff and, despite a slightly better showing in that primary, was ultimately defeated in the runoff by Steve Cooley. Incumbent Los Angeles County Assessors faced two runoffs since 1942. Only one of two incumbent Assessors was reelected in a runoff. Jeffrey Prang won reelection in the 2018 runoff, but he did come out of the primary with a strong 47.7% of votes. In 1990, however, John Lynch lost his reelection bid in a runoff against Kenneth Hahn. Lynch went into the runoff with only 30% of the vote in that year's primary, just slightly under Villanueva's result this year. Even historical incumbent runoffs for other countywide offices fall short of offering Villanueva strong odds of reelection.

June 2022 Primary Election (possibly no majority - runoff may be required)

Results as of 7/1/2022 11:38 a.m. (final count)

November 2018 General Election (Runoff)

June 2018 Primary Election (No Majority Winner - Runoff Required)

November 2014 General Election (Runoff)

June 2014 Primary Election (No Majority Winner - Runoff Required)

June 2010 Primary Election

June 2006 Primary Election

March 2002 Primary Election

November 1998 General Election (Runoff)

June 1998 Primary Election (No Majority Winner - Runoff Required)

June 1994 Primary Election

June 1990 Primary Election

June 1986 Primary Election

June 1982 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Sherman Block	848,729	63.1%
Bob Feliciano	274,469	20.4%
Alex Jacinto	81,181	6.0%
Charles Greene	63,034	4.7%
Joe Taylor	32,653	2.4%
Kenneth W. Lung	28,999	2.2%
Peter G. Secor	15,608	1.2%

June 1978 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Peter J. Pitchess*	1,270,986	74.1%
John Turner	126,028	7.3%
Richard "Sam" Fusilier	117,966	6.9%
Peter Dunn	84,280	4.9%
Havey A. Saltz	63,803	3.7%
John D Sobota	52,153	3.0%

June 1974 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Peter J. Pitchess*	1,133,660	78.3%
Robert Flannery Cox	122,739	8.5%
Richard Fusilier	111,737	7.7%
Manuel "Tank" Barrera	79,939	5.5%

June 1970 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Peter J. Pitchess*	1,407,919	84.3%
Oscar Zeta Acosta	119,063	7.1%
Everett Holladay	105,426	6.3%
Richard "Sam" Fusilier	37,062	2.2%
Other Candidates	0	0.0%

June 1966 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Peter J. Pitchess*	1,391,363	86.9%
Anthony W. Bright	105,113	6.6%
Anthony A. "Tony" Naimo	69,295	4.3%
John K. O. Webster	34,964	2.2%
Other Candidates	208	0.0%

June 1962 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Peter J. Pitchess*	931,761	99.9%
Other Candidates	929	0.1%

June 1958 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Peter J. Pitchess	964,027	72.4%
John C. Doran	236,753	17.8%
Howard M. Kessler	69,919	5.3%
Dan Crowley	60,500	4.5%
Other Candidates	67	0.0%

June 1954 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Eugene W. Biscailuz*	766,068	71.9%
John C. Doran	258,770	24.3%
Norris G. Stensland	40,366	3.8%
Other Candidates	71	0.0%

June 1950 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Eugene W. Biscailuz*	575,774	53.4%
John C. Doran	321,063	29.8%
Joseph P. McCarthy	118,187	11.0%
Walter A. Martin	38,497	3.6%
George W. Smith	23,707	2.2%
Other Candidates	8	0.0%

June 1946 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Eugene W. Biscailuz*	584,932	84.5%
Paul M. Halpoff	107,068	15.5%
Other Candidates	239	0.0%

June 1942 Primary Election

Candidate	Votes	Percent of Vote
Eugene W. Biscailuz*	487,878	99.8%
Other Candidates	891	0.2%

* Incumbent

Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk

In 1998, Sheriff Sherman Block died just days before voters were to decide upon his bid to be re-elected to a fourth term as Sheriff of Los Angeles County. Block's supporters were not dismayed and continued to campaign for the late Sheriff’s re-election. They hoped to deny a victory to Block’s opponent, Lee Baca. An election victory for a deceased candidate would place the appointment of a new Sheriff in the hands of the County Board of Supervisors. County Supervisors were not supportive of Baca's candidacy. Baca was considered an outsider to the county political establishment. Baca won the election, however, with more than 60 percent of the vote.