LA Sheriff's Chief To Run Against His Embattled Boss In 2022

LOS ANGELES, CA — A senior member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's leadership ranks Wednesday threw his hat into the ring to run against Sheriff Alex Villanueva in 2022. If Eliezer Vera, chief of the department's Technology and Support Division, were to unseat his boss, it would be only the second time in a century that an incumbent Los Angeles County sheriff lost a reelection bid.

Villanueva beat former Sheriff Jim McDonnell in 2018 in a historic upset victory. Since then, he's clashed with county leaders and fallen out of favor with some in the Democratic Party that propelled him to victory with a key endorsement.

Vera's become a vocal critic of the sheriff — namely, his handling of disagreements since his election in 2018.

"I believe as law enforcement officers our mission is to bring calmness and civility and peace to very difficult situations. And what we've witnessed from the current sheriff is someone that when someone disagrees with him, we see nothing but utter disdain and contempt," Vera said as he announced his candidacy Wednesday morning in Grand Park, surrounded by his family.

Villanueva told KTLA Wednesday afternoon that he looked forward to defending his record and said he wished Vera well.

"Everyone has the right to run ... That's what makes our nation great," he said.

Vera has been with the LASD since 1988 and has risen through the ranks, serving at the Men's Central Jail, the Lynwood, Lennox, Compton, Century and South Los Angeles stations, the Detective Division's Cargo Theft Criminal Apprehension Team, as an executive aide in the Office of the Sheriff, in the Reserve Forces Bureau and the Communications and Fleet Management Bureau.

He was promoted to the rank of chief in December 2018, overseeing the department's Central Patrol Division. In January, he transferred to the Technology & Support Division, where he oversees the Scientific Services, Data Systems, Records & Identification and Communications & Fleet Management bureaus.

Vera is a former U.S. Marine. He and Villanueva have worked closely together in the past when both were sergeants at the Lennox Station in the early 2000s. Vera also consulted on Villanueva's campaign for sheriff in 2018, and praised his aptitude shortly after the November 2018 election.

"There will be a learning curve. But this is a man with a PhD. He is no dummy," Vera told the Los Angeles Times.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.