It appears that, last night, Sheriff Mike Carona, the IVC Foundation’s “hometown hero” (or was he its “backdoor man”?), squeaked out a victory, garnering 51% of the vote—enough to win outright (i.e., there’ll be no runoff.)
Carona’s chief challenger (26.5%), Lieutenant Bill Hunt, head of the Sheriff’s San Clemente office, has conceded.
But guess what? When Hunt showed up for work this morning—he had taken a month off to campaign—he was told that he is under investigation!
In today’s OC Register (Hunt subject of sheriff’s inquiry), we learn that
Bill Hunt, the Orange County Sheriff's lieutenant who was highly critical of Sheriff Mike Carona in his race against his boss, was told this morning that he is the subject of an internal affairs investigation.
Hunt seems to be taking the high road: he called his boss to wish him luck. Further, he is, as they say, “philosophical”:
Hunt said he wasn't surprised by the action, given that he ran against his boss.
"I didn't know what to expect but it was certainly an option," he said. "At the end of the day, I'm a big boy. I made the decisions I made. I knew the type of people I was going up against. That's why I was doing it. This too will pass and we'll see where we are at the end."
Gee, think I’ll send Hunt a thank-you note. And money.
UPDATE, June 8:
In this morning's OC Register (Carona challenger faces probe"):
...Hunt was quickly sidelined when Carona placed him on paid leave pending an internal investigation that accuses Hunt of campaign improprieties involving what Carona's lawyer said were Hunt's "public statements, actions and accusations."
Carona's move shocked even longtime politicos, coming just hours after the sheriff squeaked by in a race that cost the incumbent $1.3million.
"Machiavelli would be a lot more subtle," Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College, said, comparing Carona with the Italian politician known for his devious tactics. "This is not exactly a morale builder."
(See also Sheriff's going after Hunt looks like retribution">)
aturally, rat bastard DA Tony Rackauckas and Public Administrator John “Brownie” Williams were unopposed in their bid for reelection. Sheesh.
Williams was in Orlando and could not be reached for comment.
any seem to believe that our own Dave Lang was keenly interested in running for County Treasurer-Tax Collector and that he had the rug pulled out from under him by certain crafty colleagues. At any rate, in the end, our man Fuentes worked for candidate Chriss Street—Street, too, has been hurt by scandal; that seems to be an entrance requirement for the Fuentesphere—and he has won handily with 65% of the vote.
Have I mentioned that Orange County sucks? It’s home, but it sure does suck.
ancy Padberg ran for Judge (Office 4), and here, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news: the “winner” in this three way race appears not to have achieved 50% plus 1 (Sheila Hanson received 49.6%). I’m not sure, but I’ve been told that the failure of any candidate to achieve a majority means that there’ll be a runoff election, so this thing isn’t over yet.
The bad news: Nancy was the loser in the three way race. But not by much.
Sheila Hanson ....... 140110 votes 49.6%
Lyle J. Robertson ....... 74226 votes 26.3%
Nancy Padberg ....... 68093 votes 24.1%
So Nancy Padberg is out of the running.
Hanson, who would appear to be very qualified, is a Democrat who nevertheless had the endorsement of her boss, Rackauckas, a key member of the Fuentesphere.
(Data from Smartvoter)
