Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna jumped out to an early lead over former sheriff Alex Villanueva, his predecessor and leading opponent in the race for the county’s top law enforcement job.

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If Luna ultimately receives more than half of the vote, he wins the contest outright and will serve a second term at the helm of the largest sheriff’s department in the U.S.

If Luna falls below the 50% mark, it’s likely that he and Villanueva will head to a runoff once again, reprising their 2022 face-off, when the former Long Beach Police chief unseated Villanueva by a 61% to 39% margin.

This time around, the sheriff’s race was relatively muted. Luna mostly avoided major controversies during his term — unlike Villanueva, who clashed with elected officials and journalists, and was involved in multiple lawsuits. There were no public debates that included the leading candidates and no public polling was done.

Ahead of primary day, Luna touted his leadership and a list of accomplishments. He took credit for reducing the rate of violent crimes and homicides, and said he repaired the relationship with county leaders and others that had been fractured under his predecessor.

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Villanueva criticized the sheriff for plunging the department into “chaos and dysfunction,” blaming Luna for the department’s struggles to retain deputies. Luna described both claims as unfounded.

Retired sheriff’s Lt. Eric Strong was in third place as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, the same position as when he ran four years ago. He was followed by Sgt. Karla Carranza, who has worked for the department for more than two decades.

Oscar Martinez, who joined the sheriff’s department after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, was in fifth, followed by Capt. Mike Bornman, who has decades of experience at the sheriff’s department.

Andre White, a detective with about a dozen years at the department, was in seventh, while Brendan Corbett, a former assistant sheriff for custody operations, was in last place.

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