Medina increases lead in Riverside County supervisor race

Former Assemblyman Jose Medina added to his lead Thursday over state Sen. Richard Roth, both Riverside Democrats, in the close contest for a soon-to-be-vacant seat on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.

The latest vote tally from the Riverside County Registrar of Voters showed Medina now a full 1% ahead, expanding his lead from 1,193 votes on Wednesday to 1,370 on Thursday.

Roth had a nearly 10% vote cushion on election night last week. His lead dissipated each day since then, and on Tuesday night the vote tally showed Medina ahead by 0.3%.

An estimated 50,000 vote-by-mail and provisional ballots in the county have yet to be processed. The next vote-count update was scheduled for Friday night.

Neither candidate has commented publicly on the race since last week.

Medina and Roth are vying for the supervisorial seat up for grabs with the upcoming retirement of longtime Supervisor Kevin Jeffries.

Term limits drove Roth from the California State Legislature this year. Previously he was an Air Force major general stationed in the Riverside area.

Roth highlighted as accomplishments in the Senate since 2012 securing funds for UC Riverside’s medical school and funding to add more judicial officers in the county.

“I’m running for supervisor to build more housing our families can afford, improve our quality of life, recruit doctors and make mental health care more accessible,” Roth said in campaign literature. “I’ll ensure we fund and support public safety to combat crime, fight gang violence and stop illegal drugs from overtaking our communities.”

His plan to address homelessness is establishing additional partnerships with nonprofits to expand the county’s offerings of mental health and substance abuse treatment options.

Roth bills himself as a “moderate Democrat” but like Medina, who termed out of the Assembly two years ago, Roth has received failing grades from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers’ Association. Roth voted for tax or fee increases including on gasoline, mobile phone services and recycling spent car batteries.

Medina was an educator before his 2010 election to the Assembly. He highlighted his advocacy for greater appropriations to UC Riverside and his efforts to acquire seed funding for the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and other restoration projects in Riverside.

The former assemblyman said he would make sure the sheriff’s department has accountability in order to reestablish community trust, referencing complaints about jail conditions that has led to at least one lawsuit.

“I will deliver for Riverside County families by tackling our homelessness crisis by rapidly moving people off our streets and into housing,” he said in a campaign promotion.

Medina also pledged to work to improve public health and expand mental health and addiction services.

In June he appeared before the Board of Supervisors to speak in opposition of double-digit percentage pay raises that were ultimately approved for the sheriff, district attorney and other elected officials. Medina said if voters select him for the office he would continue Jeffries’ tradition of declining pay raises for himself.

Updated Nov. 15, 2024, 8:46 a.m.

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