# Sheriff — Los Angeles County Compare records and positions simply between Robert G. Luna or Alex Villanueva for Sheriff — Los Angeles County at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person leads the LA County Sheriff's Department. They oversee county policing, the jail system, and court security. - Jurisdiction: Los Angeles County - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/la-sheriff - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 21, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 94 out of 100 (Very strong), across 6 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Robert G. Luna** - **Alex Villanueva** A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. The county's marquee November rematch: Sheriff Robert Luna (44.2% in June) faces the man he unseated in 2022, Alex Villanueva (21.7%), on November 3. The department they're fighting over runs county policing, court security — and a jail system in genuine crisis. The sheriff serves four years running the largest sheriff's department in the country: patrol for dozens of contract cities, security for the courts, and custody of a jail system under multiple court orders. The Board of Supervisors controls the budget — and since 2022 has held the power to remove a sheriff for cause. Three questions decide this race. The jails: deaths in custody rose to 46 in 2025, and the state Attorney General is suing the county and Luna personally over conditions. Oversight: Luna cooperates with watchdogs and four federal consent decrees; Villanueva's term was defined by fighting them. And crime: violent crime has fallen under Luna. Decide which record — and which relationship with accountability — you want for four more years. ## Robert G. Luna Sheriff since 2022, former Long Beach police chief. Violent crime is down each year on his watch and he cooperates with oversight — but jail deaths hit 46 in 2025 and the state AG is suing him over conditions. He's the county establishment's candidate. **Strengths:** Homicides down about 25% since 2023, and he created the Office of Constitutional Policing to work through four federal consent decrees and deputy gangs. **Trade-offs:** The jail crisis deepened on his watch — 41, 32, then 46 in-custody deaths across his term — and reformers say deputy-gang measures remain incomplete. **Keep in mind:** The state AG's September 2025 lawsuit over 'unconstitutional, inhumane' jail conditions names him personally. It's the strongest factual criticism of his tenure, and it comes from his own party. ## Alex Villanueva Sheriff from 2018 to 2022, career LASD before that. Villanueva's term was defined by fights with oversight bodies; voters removed Villanueva by about 20 points in 2022. They're running on fiscal management and a harder public-safety line. **Strengths:** Four years actually running the department, and a campaign built on voters who think the establishment has failed on crime and homelessness. **Trade-offs:** Villanueva's term brought refused subpoenas, resistance to civilian oversight, and criticism that deputy-gang allegations went unaddressed. **Keep in mind:** The county placed Villanueva on its 'do not rehire' list after findings Villanueva violated discrimination and harassment policies (they deny wrongdoing), and Villanueva's office opened investigations into critics, including a journalist. ## Financial info - **Robert G. Luna** — $1,110,966 raised (Individuals: $935,267; PACs & committees: $49,249; Businesses & other orgs: $126,450) - **Alex Villanueva** — $238,362 raised (Small donors: $13,184; Individuals: $192,378; PACs & committees: $7,000; Businesses & other orgs: $17,350; Self-funding: $1,500) Total raised is each calendar year's cumulative (Form 460 Summary line 5) from that year's latest filing, summed for the 2026 cycle; the breakdown lists direct contributions, so the pieces can sum below the total. Figures are filings through 2026-06-30, per the county's NetFile e-filing data, retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Sources 1. [LA County RR/CC — Certified results, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-06-26)](https://results.lavote.gov/text-results/4338) 2. [LA County RR/CC — Offices Scheduled for Election, November 3, 2026 (6/26/26)](https://content.lavote.gov/docs/rrcc/documents/offices-to-be-elected-gen-2026.pdf) 3. [LAist — June 2026 primary voter guides](https://laist.com/news/politics/voter-guides) 4. [CA Attorney General press release — lawsuit over LA County jail conditions (Sept 8, 2025)](https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases) 5. [NBC Los Angeles — June 2026 primary results coverage, recent news](https://www.nbclosangeles.com) 6. [LA County campaign-finance disclosure (Registrar-Recorder / NetFile)](https://campaignfinance.lacounty.gov/) ## The rest of the ballot Sheriff — Los Angeles County is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Sheriff — Los Angeles County — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/la-sheriff (sources last retrieved September 21, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.