8th Villanueva challenger for LA County sheriff files at deadline

Friday was the deadline to file to run for most Los Angeles County, state and federal offices on the June 7 primary ballot, with one more candidate filing to run against Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

Sheriff’s Chief Eli Vera is the eighth candidate to file to run against Villanueva. Vera announced his candidacy in April, criticizing Villanueva for how he has handled disagreements since his election in 2018.

“I believe as law enforcement officers our mission is to bring calmness and civility and peace to very difficult situations. And what we’ve witnessed from the current sheriff is someone that when someone disagrees with him, we see nothing but utter disdain and contempt,” Vera said.

Long Beach Police Department former Chief Robert Luna, Los Angeles Airport Police Chief Cecil Rhambo, sheriff’s Capt. Britta S. Steinbrenner, retired sheriff’s Capt. Matt Rodriguez, sheriff’s Lt. Eric Strong, sheriff’s Sgt. Karla Yesenia Carranza and parole agent April Saucedo Hood had filed earlier.

The deadline will be extended to Wednesday for offices the incumbent is eligible to run for reelection, but did not file, such as the Third District seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

The deadline to file to run for Superior Court judge was Feb. 9, which was extended to Feb. 14 for judgeships where the incumbent did not file to run for reelection.

Wednesday was the final day to complete the filing process to run for Los Angeles city offices.

Six candidates have filed to succeed Third District Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who opted against running for a third term — Sens. Henry Stern, D-Calabasas, and Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys; West Hollywood City Councilwoman Lindsey Horvath, small-business owner Jeffi Girgenti, Craig A. Brill, who lists his occupation as canine recreation provider, and Roxanne Beckford Hoge, an actress who ran unsuccessfully for the Assembly in 2018.

Kuehl has endorsed Horvath.

Four potential candidates completed the filing process to run against First District Supervisor Hilda Solis in the other Board of Supervisors race on the ballot — La Puente Councilman David Argudo, businesswoman Tammy Solis, entrepreneur Kevin Dalton and Brian Smith, who did not list an occupation.

Deputy assessors Mike Campbell, Anthony Lopez and Sandy Sun filed to challenge Assessor Jeffrey Prang in his bid for a third term.

The ballot will also include primaries for governor, U.S. senator, seven other statewide offices, four seats on the Board of Equalization, all of California’s 52 congressional seats, 20 of the 40 state Senate seats and all 80 seats in the Assembly.

The top two candidates in all state and federal races will advance to the general election, regardless of party. If no candidate receives a majority in the races for county offices, the top two finishers will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.

All would-be candidates must gather a sufficient amount of signatures to qualify for the ballot.