Eight candidates – including an incumbent and his predecessor – are running to lead the country’s largest sheriff department in the June 2 primary election.
The candidates, all current or former members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, are running on differing approaches to homelessness, immigration enforcement and how to manage the department’s billion-dollar budget. If no candidate receives more than 50% of primary votes, the top two candidates will move on to a November runoff election.
LASD runs the country’s largest jail system, serves as municipal police in unincorporated areas and contracting cities and provides security at the county’s Superior Courts, hospitals and several community colleges. The sheriff is elected, unlike LA’s police chief, and serves a four-year term.
Incumbent Robert Luna said in an emailed statement that UCLA students rely on cooperation between UCPD and the LA sheriff because of the university’s open campus. LASD provides mutual aid to UCLA during emergencies and works in areas adjacent to campus, impacting regional safety and traffic enforcement, said Luna, who worked for the Long Beach Police Department for 36 years before becoming sheriff in 2022.
In the 2022 election, he pledged to eliminate law enforcement gangs – which are groups of deputies that intentionally break laws or violate professional principles while policing – and address repeat offenders, especially people accused of gun violence. He aimed to reduce mental health and substance abuse issues in county jails, as well as implement wellness programs for deputies and restore public trust in LASD.
Violent crime has decreased each year since 2022, according to an LASD transparency dashboard. The percentage of reported violent and property crimes that were solved increased each year from 2022 to 2024, while the same percentage decreased for arson, according to data published by the California Department of Justice.
Luna also established a Crime Strategy Unit and Office of Constitutional Policing, outfitted deputies at jails with body-worn cameras and published more transparency data, according to his campaign website.
The campaign website also says Luna banned deputy gangs, which was already required under Assembly Bill 958.
If re-elected, Luna’s priorities still include holding repeat offenders accountable, improving deputy mental health and investing in long-term crime prevention strategies, according to his website.
“As a County-wide elected official, it is my job as Sheriff to be responsive and collaborative with everyone in Los Angeles County, including students at UCLA,” Luna said in the statement. “I look forward to engaging with UCLA students on policies that promote justice, the protection of civil rights, and community safety.”
Brendan Corbett, a retired assistant sheriff and sheriff candidate, said LASD deputies are overworked and fatigued, adding that the department’s funds are often mishandled. Corbett said he believes LASD is not fulfilling its contractual obligation to provide adequate security at LA community colleges.
“They’re exhausted, they’re overworked and there’s no light on the horizon,” Corbett said. “We’ve had deputies falling asleep at the wheel and dying, for heaven’s sake. It’s untenable and unsustainable.”
Corbett said he does not believe crime has actually declined, but is simply underreported.
He added that he is applying 40 years of LASD experience in the jails, on patrol, and on SWAT teams to his campaign. Corbett said he plans to expand the Reserve Deputy Program, in which civilians volunteer as sheriff deputies to perform administrative tasks and work in the field, and create more community advisory councils.
Corbett said that, if elected, he plans to establish a new system in which jail inmates experiencing mental illness or substance abuse are mandated to work with a case manager upon their release, who would monitor their behavior.
Under the new system, which aims to reduce homelessness, the sheriffs would also provide support resources to inmates’ families and notify the local police department that arrested the person when they are released from custody, Corbett added.
“It’s communicating to get the best level of care for individuals going out, because that’s how you’re going to stop the homeless crisis,” he said. “Right now, unfortunately, the best timeout and place to heal and get well is if they’re incarcerated.”
Corbett said he believes LASD would benefit from enhanced access to drones, AI tools that analyze data and gather documents, medical alert systems in jail cells and video arraignments, which allow people held in jail to appear in court remotely.
Eric Strong, a probation operations chief running for sheriff, plans to direct all nonviolent cases involving people with addiction or mental illness to diversion programs or sobering centers instead of jail, according to his campaign website. He also wants to train every deputy in crisis intervention and de-escalation and make LASD’s Internal Affairs Bureau, which investigates deputy misconduct, independent, his website said.
“We have to stop feeding the jails with people that are in crisis,” he said in an interview.
Strong said he wants to change LASD’s internal culture to teach deputies to treat people with dignity and respect, cooperate more effectively with civilian oversight and respond to more public records requests, which LASD is required to fulfil under state law. He added that he wants to ensure employees are promoted to executive ranks based on merit.
Strong, a UCLA alumnus, said he believes students should vote in the sheriff election, regardless of whether they support or oppose police.
“What’s the best way to basically help find the person that’s going to do the least amount of harm and is going to push law enforcement in the direction of what your goals are?” Strong said. “It’s to get out there and vote, particularly for the sheriff.”
Corbett and Strong both criticized Luna for not publicly taking a stand against increased federal immigration enforcement in LA County. A spokesperson for Luna’s campaign said in an emailed statement that he expressed his stance in several appearances on media outlets, during which he criticized immigration raids in the county and said he did not send information about undocumented jail inmates to the federal government.
In November 2024, Luna said in an ABC7 interview that sheriffs will not initiate immigration enforcement or ask about people’s immigration status, but could help federal agencies under certain circumstances.
President Donald Trump ramped up immigration enforcement after his second inauguration, arresting 14,302 people in greater LA in 2025 compared to 4,684 in 2024, according to ABC7.
Mike Bornman, a retired sheriff’s captain and sheriff candidate, said on his campaign website that he would focus immigration enforcement efforts on people charged with violent felonies or serious misdemeanors if elected. However, Bornman said in an interview that he would transfer people convicted of serious crimes who are held in county jails to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement only in response to a judicial warrant.
Bornman said his three main goals as sheriff include conducting a forensic audit of LASD’s budget and expenditures, rebuilding trust between the department and the public and improving department employee health and wellness. He added that he wants to fire anyone involved in deputy gangs and expand vocational opportunities in jails.
“The morale in the sheriff’s department is at rock bottom low,” Bornman said. “You’ve got people who are chronically sleep deprived, who are stretched too thin. What kind of job are they going to do for you as a member of the public when they go out?”
One way of boosting employee morale, Bornman added, is hiring more people by recruiting on college campuses. Strong said he wants more college graduates to consider careers in law enforcement.
“We need people who can think on their feet, we need people who are technologically savvy,” Bornman said. “We need people who can talk themselves out of situations instead of using force.”
Oscar Martinez, a sheriff’s lieutenant, would prioritize defending law enforcement officers, modernizing the department’s tools and promoting fiscal responsibility if elected sheriff, according to his campaign website. He said in an interview that he wants to strategically deploy deputies based on crime data, use drones and automated vehicles and be more transparent about sheriff expenditures.
“Taxpayers have a right to demand that the money they spend on public safety is spent correctly,” he said.
Students deserve a sheriff’s department that is reliable, responds to community concerns and protects individual rights, Martinez added in an emailed statement.
Martinez also wants to reinstate the federal 287(g) program, in which jails transfer inmates to ICE upon the agency’s request. To implement the program, he would need to modify the California Values Act, a sanctuary law that outlaws the program, by working with state legislators.
[Related: LA County sheriff candidate seeks to reinstate ICE cooperation program]
“I would work to maintain open lines of communication with students and university communities while ensuring public safety policies are guided by facts, accountability, and the needs of the people we serve,” Martinez said in the emailed statement.
Former sheriff Alex Villanueva and the two other candidates – gang detective Andre White and Sgt. Karla Carranza – did not respond to interview requests.
During Villanueva’s tenure as sheriff from 2018 to 2022, his campaign website said he prioritized transparency, integrity and recruitment. The department under Villanueva deployed resources during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and raided illegal cannabis farms in 2021 and 2022, according to his campaign website.
Villanueva also established LASD’s Public Corruption Unit, which investigates local government, and expanded the department’s Mental Health Evaluation Teams and Homeless Outreach Services, his campaign website said.
Villanueva challenged vaccine mandates and divested from a COVID-19 testing firm for its alleged ties to the Chinese government, according to his website. The firm denied the allegations, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Villanueva said in a campaign video that he would hire 2,000 new deputies in two years, ensure families feel safe in their neighborhoods and stand up for his deputies if elected.
“Sheriff Villanueva is seeking to return to lead the department he dedicated his life to – ready to restore operational strength, rebuild public confidence, and set Los Angeles County on a safer, stronger path forward,” his website said.
Carranza, who has worked in law enforcement for more than 20 years, would invest in better personnel training, improve emergency response readiness and attempt to build a new jail if elected, according to her campaign website.
Like Corbett, Carranza is looking to expand the Reserve Program by offering hourly wages to civilian volunteers, who currently earn $1 each year for their participation, according to LASD’s website. She would also cancel any contracts LASD is violating because of staffing shortages, allowing the department to better prioritize its contract cities and unincorporated areas, according to the website.
Carranza said on her website that she hopes to reduce the number of lawsuits the LASD settles, which she believes could be accomplished if the county hired better lawyers.
“Every dollar spent on unnecessary settlements or outside contract counsel is a dollar diverted from essential public-safety services and vital community programs,” Carranza said on her website. “Under new leadership, LASD will champion accountability, protect public funds, and ensure that disputes are resolved in courtrooms—where juries can hear the facts and render a fair decision—rather than through avoidable settlements.”
White, who was hired by LASD in 2014 to work in a correctional facility and currently serves in the Operation Safe Streets unit, plans to focus on preventing crime, according to his campaign website. Before joining the department, he worked in an emergency room and as an EMT.
His platform focuses on increasing transparency, using modern technology and making the sheriff role more visible to civilians, according to his website. White also said on his website that he wants to recruit in underrepresented communities, to ensure deputies better reflect their constituents.
To make policing more effective, White added that he wants to be proactive and address concerns before crimes occur.
White wants to publicize LASD policies, hiring processes and investigations if he is elected, he said on the website. He also plans to create affordable housing partnerships, job training and mental health services, which he added will address the root causes of crime.
His other priorities include investing in leadership development, updating training standards and strengthening partnerships with schools, according to a Feb. 12 Instagram post. White also wants to keep young people safe by enhancing youth crime prevention programs, according to the post.
“Andre will lead from the ground, not an isolated office,” his website said.
Students can vote or drop off mail-in ballots at any of the four Vote Centers open at UCLA – including at Pauley Pavilion, De Neve Plaza, Ackerman Union and Hammer Museum. The centers are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on June 2, the last day of primary election voting. Mail-in ballots can also be dropped off at a U.S. Postal Service office, in a collection box or at an official LA County vote-by-mail drop box.
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