2018 Orange County, California District Attorney election

Orange County, California District Attorney election, 2018

← 2014 June 5 and November 6, 2018 2022 →
Turnout	42.9% (first round);[1] 71.0% (runoff)[2]
Candidate Todd Spitzer Tony Rackauckas Brett Murdock Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Nonpartisan First round vote 191,346 209,148 121,818 First round percentage 35.2% 38.5% 22.4% Runoff vote 484,830 425,764 Eliminated Runoff percentage 53.2% 46.8% Eliminated
First round county supervisorial district resultsFirst round congressional district resultsRunoff county supervisorial district resultsRunoff congressional district resultsShow all Map key Spitzer:      50–60% Rackauckas:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%
District Attorney before election Tony Rackauckas Elected District Attorney Todd Spitzer

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The 2018 Orange, County, California District Attorney election took place on June 5, 2018 for the first round. Because no candidate received a majority in the first round, a runoff took place November 6, 2018, to elect the Orange County, California District Attorney. County-level elections in California are officially nonpartisan. Because no candidate received a majority, a runoff was held on November 6, 2018.

Incumbent District Attorney Tony Rackauckas is running for a sixth term.^[3] Rackauckas was re-elected in 2014 with 73% of the vote in 2014.

In July 2017, Orange County Supervisor Todd Spitzer declared that he will challenge Rackauckas due to scandals within the Orange County District Attorney's office.^[4]

In May of 2018, former mayor of Brea Brett Murdock declared candidacy.^[5]

Rackauckas has faced criticism for allegedly mishandling jailhouse informants, making it more difficult to convict and sentence defendants.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

On September 22, 2017, Scott Dekraai was sentenced to eight terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, one term for each of his victims and to seven years to life for attempted murder in a Seal Beach salon shooting. The jailhouse informant scandal allegedly involving Rackauckas made it impossible to seek the death penalty for Dekraai.^[11][12]

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint claiming the alleged widespread use of jailhouse informants by Orange County law enforcement officeholders has continued for decades. The United States Department of Justice and California Attorney General's office both launched probes investigating the jailhouse informant case. As of April 4, 2018, no charges have been filed against any Orange County law enforcement official.^[13]

On April 26 2018, A forum for candidates sponsored by conservative PAC Hispanic 100 was held.^[14]

Assistant Orange County Public Defender Scott Sanders claims California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions have turned a blind eye to the use of jailhouse informants. Sanders discovered that more than 140 cases might have been mishandled due to the use of jailhouse informants. Sanders claims that it is the largest jailhouse informant scandal in United States history.^[15]

On November 6, 2018, Spitzer, a Republican, defeated incumbent Republican Rackauckas, denying Rackauckas a sixth term.

Candidates[]

• Note: County elections in California are officially nonpartisan. The parties below identify which party label each candidate would have run under if given the option.

Declared[]

• Lenore Albert-Sheridan^[16] (Democratic Party)
• Brett Murdock, former Mayor of Brea^[5] (Democratic Party)
• Tony Rackauckas, incumbent District Attorney^[3] (Republican Party)
• Todd Spitzer, Orange County Supervisor^[3] (Republican Party)

General election[]

Endorsements[]

Results[]

Orange County, California District Attorney election, 2018^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Tony Rackauckas (incumbent)	209,148	38.5%
	Nonpartisan	Todd Spitzer	191,346	35.2%
	Nonpartisan	Brett Murdock	121,818	22.4%
	Nonpartisan	Lenore Albert-Sheridan	20,890	3.8%
Total votes			543,202	100%

Results by county supervisorial district[]

Rackauckas won all 5 county supervisorial districts by varying margins. Red represents county supervisorial districts won by Rackauckas.

Results by county supervisorial district[1]
District	Albert-Sheridan		Murdock		Rackauckas		Spitzer		Total
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes
1	3,234	4.9%	16,344	24.8%	25,840	39.3%	20,413	31.0%	65,831
2	5,432	4.1%	29,248	22.2%	53,591	40.7%	43,245	32.9%	131,516
3	4,000	3.4%	24,015	20.4%	44,835	38.1%	44,805	38.1%	117,655
4	3,602	4.1%	23,020	26.5%	31,140	35.8%	29,169	33.6%	86,931
5	4,622	3.3%	29,191	20.7%	53,742	38.0%	53,714	38.0%	141,269
Totals	20,890	3.8%	121,818	22.4%	209,148	38.5%	191,346	35.2%	543,202

Results by congressional district[]

Rackauckas won all 7 congressional districts by varying margins. Red represents congressional districts won by Rackauckas.^[1]

Results by congressional district[1]
District	Albert-Sheridan		Murdock		Rackauckas		Spitzer		Total
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes
38	68	2.4%	584	20.6%	1,149	40.5%	1,038	36.6%	2,839
39	3,152	3.7%	19,993	23.6%	31,112	36.8%	30,301	35.8%	84,558
45	4,939	3.3%	31,058	20.6%	57,364	38.1%	57,154	38.0%	150,515
46	3,111	4.7%	17,928	27.3%	23,585	35.9%	21,081	32.1%	65,705
47	1,972	4.5%	9,597	21.8%	17,480	39.7%	14,964	34.0%	44,013
48	6,313	4.1%	34,942	22.5%	62,718	40.4%	51,121	33.0%	155,094
49	1,335	3.3%	7,716	19.1%	15,740	38.9%	15,687	38.8%	40,478
Totals	20,890	3.8%	121,818	22.4%	209,148	38.5%	191,346	35.2%	543,202

Runoff[]

Endorsements[]

Results[]

Orange County, California District Attorney election runoff, 2018^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Nonpartisan	Todd Spitzer	484,830	53.2%	N/A
	Nonpartisan	Tony Rackauckas (incumbent)	425,764	46.8%	-26.5%
Total votes			910,594	100%	N/A

Results by county supervisorial district[]

Spitzer won all 5 county supervisorial districts. Green represents county supervisorial districts won by Spitzer.^[2]

Results by county supervisorial district[2]
District	Rackauckas		Spitzer		Total
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes
1	61,297	49.7%	61,919	50.3%	123,216
2	103,969	49.7%	105,027	50.3%	208,996
3	89,739	44.5%	111,715	55.4%	201,454
4	66,350	44.7%	82,243	55.3%	148,593
5	104,409	45.7%	123,926	54.3%	228,335
Totals	425,764	46.8%	484,830	53.2%	910,594

Results by congressional district[]

Green represents congressional districts won by Spitzer. Red represents congressional districts won by Rackauckas.

Results by congressional district[2]
District	Rackauckas		Spitzer		Total
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes
38	2,240	46.6%	2,566	53.4%	4,806
39	59,818	44.3%	75,133	55.7%	134,951
45	114,753	44.8%	141,548	55.2%	256,301
46	59,914	45.4%	72,139	54.6%	132,053
47	36,389	48.7%	38,386	51.3%	74,775
48	123,158	50.3%	121,540	49.7%	244,698
49	29,492	46.8%	33,518	53.2%	63,010
Totals	425,764	46.8%	484,830	53.2%	910,594

References[]

External links[]

Official campaign websites

• Tony Rackauckas for District Attorney
• Todd Spitzer for District Attorney