Until recently, the conventional wisdom held that Jim McDonnell had a fairly easy path to be reelected as Los Angeles County sheriff.
He’d made strides in bringing stability to a troubled agency torn by scandal. His resume boasted years in the top echelons of local law enforcement.
Now McDonnell, 59, is in the political fight of his life, with the future of his slate of reforms aimed at stamping out corruption and misconduct hanging in the balance. There is the possibility he could lose his job to a challenger with far less management experience but a stronger ground game who took a razor-thin lead in the race just before dawn Wednesday morning.
Retired Sheriff’s Lt. Alex Villanueva was ahead by 4,927 votes, stirring predictions of a potential upset.
Read the full story at LATimes.com.