Villanueva Extends His Lead by 58,000 For L.A. Sheriff, and Huge Latino Voter Turnout Put Him There

[dropcap size=big]W[/dropcap]hat a crazy election for Los Angeles County Sheriff. The race whipsawed from incumbent Sheriff Jim McDonnell with a dominant 58 percent of the vote on election night to challenger Alex Villanueva with a slim 4,927 vote margin of victory the following day. Villanueva’s lead then withered down to just 335 votes.

Now, as of Friday afternoon, Villanueva’s lead shot back up to nearly 58,000 votes over McDonnell in this close election. The tally at 5 pm, Nov. 16, was Villanueva with 1,112,673 votes to McDonnell's 1,054,863.

If he ultimately prevails — it’s still 'if,' as there remains thousands of votes to be counted with a new ballots from the L.A. County registrar expected today — the former deputy Villanueva has a historically robust Latino voter turnout in this year’s election to thank for it. The county has until Nov. 30 to certify the results.

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