LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — A bill passed by the State Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom will align races for district attorneys and sheriffs throughout California with presidential elections.
In so doing, Assembly Bill 759 will temporarily extend the terms of the DAs and sheriffs who have been elected in 2022.
Those officials will get a one-time extension of two years in office, giving them a six-year term, in order to align with the 2028 presidential election cycle.
Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) authored AB 759 in order to move those races from midterm election years, when turnout is lower, to the higher turnout years when United States presidential candidates also share the ballot.
“These are critical countywide elected officials that deal with important life and death matters,” McCarty said in a statement released at the end of September, shortly after Newsom sided several of his bills, including AB 759. “Sheriffs are responsible for operating jails, and DAs for prosecuting criminal violations. These positions should be voted on during elections where there is high turnout — like the presidential election.”
Lake County Registrar of Voters Maria Valadez said that, so far, her office hasn’t received any guidance from the state on the new legislation, but since the bill just passed it’s still early in the process and she expects it eventually.
She said she doesn’t foresee any big changes due to the bill.
“I don’t believe the impact is that big,” Valadez said of her office and its work flow.
They already will have three supervisorial seats on that ballot, she said.
For candidates, Valadez said they will need to be prepared to begin the filing process earlier, in the fall, because they will be on the presidential primary ballot, which is in March, not June, as is in the case in the midterm elections.
Incumbent District Attorney Susan Krones won reelection to her second term in June and Sheriff Brian Martin won a third term without opposition in June.
However, last week, Martin announced that he will retire on Dec. 30, just days short of his second term, as Lake County News has reported.
He said he had planned to retire in the upcoming term, but the bill and how it would impact an appointee led him to making the decision earlier.
“This change in law really changed the dynamics of what that would look like for the county,” he said of the process to appoint a new sheriff, noting he didn’t want to wait to the point that his successor was thrown immediately into the middle of an election cycle.
Martin said the Board of Supervisors will appoint his successor.
Valadez said the two-year extension under AB 759 will not apply to Martin’s appointed successor, who will be on the ballot in 2024 and so will have to start soon to prepare to run.
Krones said she had known about the bill when she was running, but it hadn't passed the Legislature until after her race was decided.
Krones said most of California’s counties elect district attorneys and sheriffs in off years. “The overall issue is we want more people to vote in these elections because they’re important,” she said
She said it was better to extend the terms by two years than to shorten them, as that would be unfair to voters and difficult for candidates.
Krones said she was surprised at Martin’s retirement announcement.
“I wish him all the best. I’m happy for him,” but sad for the county, Krones said.
As for whether she will serve the entirety of her upcoming six-year term, Krones said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
She just received her 30-year service plaque from the county of Lake so she is looking at the options available to her.
Those include serving the entire term. “I’m not prejudging anything whether I'm going to retire early,” she said, adding she’ll wait to see what’s ahead and that she never says never.
However, Krones said, “I do not expect to run again after this.”
Asked if he thought the bill would have the desired effect, Martin said it depends.
While the stated goal was to increase voters, Martin said what he’s hearing through other channels is that those offices on the midterm ballot were elected when voter generally turnout was lower and viewed as being more Republican, with more Democrats opting out.
That leads to a conclusion that the goal may be to put those races on the ballot before a more liberal voting base, Martin said.
Martin said it’s clear to him that the Legislature and the Governor's Office would like more of a say over sheriffs’ elections.
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Assembly Bill 759 aligns DA and sheriff’s elections with presidential election cycle
- Elizabeth Larson
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