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If Eliezer Vera, chief of the department's Technology and Support Division, announced plans to run against Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva. (Shutterstock / Elliott Cowand Jr)
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.