Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna won a second term in the Nov. 3 general election, defeating former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who was trying to win back his old job, news organizations projected Tuesday night.
In the election night tally from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk posted at 1:04:58 a.m. Wednesday, Luna had 1,214,547 votes, or 69.54%, and Villanueva had 532,119 votes, or 30.46%. That left Luna ahead by 682,428 votes. The figures are preliminary and uncertified, and they will change as more ballots are counted.
NBC Los Angeles projected Luna as the winner Tuesday night. The Associated Press also called the race for the incumbent Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Times reported.
As of the Registrar’s 1:04:58 a.m. update, 1,929,813 ballots had been counted countywide, out of 5,908,408 registered voters. The Registrar had not published an estimate of how many ballots remain to be counted. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and received within seven days will still be counted, and the Registrar’s post-election schedule lists its first post-election ballot counting update for Wednesday afternoon and certification of the results on Nov. 27.
Luna told LAist about an hour after polls closed that voters had judged his record. “They looked at my accomplishments — four years of progressing our department forward versus trying to go back to what it was and dragging the department backwards,” he said. “I’m very happy to see the initial numbers.”
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times just before 10 p.m., Luna said he was “very, very humbled” by his support, though he held off on declaring victory while votes were still being counted. “It’s a good feeling to know that the voters in L.A. County trust me to move the sheriff’s department forward and make our communities safe,” he said. “So I think this is a very strong message.”
Villanueva had not commented publicly on the results as of publication. The Times and LAist both reported that he and his campaign did not immediately respond to their requests for comment Tuesday night.
The contest was a rematch. In 2022, Luna, a former Long Beach police chief, unseated Villanueva with 1,370,837 votes, or 61.26%, to Villanueva’s 867,029, or 38.74%, according to the Registrar’s results for that election.
In the June 2 primary this year, Luna placed first in a field of eight candidates with 859,070 votes, or 44.15%, and Villanueva was second with 422,272 votes, or 21.70%, according to the Registrar. Because Luna did not win the race outright in June, the two men met again in November.
The campaign centered on whether the department had improved or declined under Luna. The sheriff argued that crime had fallen on his watch and that he had repaired ties with government partners that suffered during Villanueva’s tenure, the Times reported. LAist reported that Luna credited his leadership with a 25% drop in homicides in areas his deputies patrol.
Villanueva countered that the county had become less safe, and he blamed Luna for sagging morale, deputy vacancies and higher overtime spending. “The department is in free fall. My motto is ‘Help is on the way,’” Villanueva said at a September campaign stop in Burbank, according to the Times. “The department will not survive four more years at the current rate it’s going.” Luna has denied that deputies are leaving the department in large numbers and has pointed to steps he took to speed up hiring, the Times reported.
Luna also raised far more money. He brought in about $729,000 in campaign contributions from Jan. 1 through Oct. 17, compared with $242,000 for Villanueva, according to the Times.
Villanueva’s single term as sheriff was marked by clashes with the county Board of Supervisors and by investigations he opened into critics, including a Times reporter who covered the department, LAist reported. After he left office, the County Equity Oversight Panel found that he had violated discrimination and harassment policies, and he was placed on a “do not rehire” list, according to LAist. Villanueva denied the allegation.
Luna’s second term will bring a long list of challenges. The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into conditions at Men’s Central Jail, and California’s attorney general sued last year over conditions in county jails, LAist reported. The department is also expected to play a major role in security for the 2028 Olympic Games, and it faces pressure to control overtime costs that grew as sworn vacancies climbed under both sheriffs, according to the Times.
