Carona Snubbed by O.C. Deputies

Orange County deputies Wednesday decided not to back beleaguered Sheriff Michael S. Carona in his bid for a third term, dealing a new blow to one of the county’s best-known politicians.

After a week of secret balloting, Sheriff’s Lt. Bill Hunt edged out his boss 683 to 625 in a vote by the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, according to figures the group posted on its website. Los Angeles Sheriff’s Cmdr. Ralph Martin received 105 votes, and retired L.A. Sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Alcaraz mustered 5.

The union’s endorsement of Hunt comes a week after Carona failed to earn the endorsement of Orange County Republican leaders, a political snub for an incumbent.

Hunt, a seasoned street cop who supervises deputies patrolling San Clemente, had been banking on the union’s support to inject momentum into his cash-strapped campaign. He has said he would restore respectable leadership to a department he says is tarnished by scandals and investigations tied to Carona’s administration.

“Mike Carona took a loss in his own party.... Now he’s taking a loss in his own department,” Hunt said shortly after the vote was announced. “I think it means a lot. It shows the men and women of the Sheriff’s Department are looking for new leadership.”

Carona is widely endorsed by state and local politicians and remains far ahead of his challengers in fund-raising, with $618,443 in his campaign chest as of this month. His advisors and supporters maintain the sheriff will be handily reelected despite the negative publicity surrounding him.

Carona’s campaign spokesman, Michael J. Schroeder, declined to comment after the vote was announced.

Government professor John J. Pitney of Claremont McKenna College, a former analyst for the national GOP who has been following the sheriff’s race, said before the vote that the race would become more competitive if Hunt won, and could basically be interpreted as a vote of no-confidence in the sheriff by his rank and file.

However, Pitney added, Carona would remain a heavy favorite with the public, despite “all the bad news” and even if he lost the union’s endorsement, because he maintains “the power of incumbency” and still holds a substantial fund-raising advantage.

“And that counts for a lot,” he said.

The Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs represents 1,800 sworn deputies, investigators and sergeants, as well as investigators from the district attorney’s office. While the union’s endorsement reflects whom the rank and file support, it is not always a reliable indicator of the election result. When Carona first ran in 1998, for example, deputies backed his opponent, Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters.

After taking office, Carona earned praise from the union for being open and responsive to deputies, and working to unify the department. But scandals and controversies that have unfolded in the last two years, some tied to his decision to appoint George Jaramillo and Don Haidl as his top assistants, have divided the union leadership and the department.

Jaramillo, once Carona’s top confidant and widely believed to be next in line as sheriff, was fired in 2004 and has since been indicted on various public corruption charges, including bribery -- allegations he denies. Haidl, a wealthy businessman and campaign fund-raiser, resigned the same year because of the fallout over his son’s arrest in a high-profile sexual assault case.

Last summer, reserve deputy Raymond K. Yi, Carona’s personal martial arts instructor, was arrested for allegedly flashing a gun and a badge at a group of golfers he thought was playing too slowly. A short time later, Capt. Christine Murray was charged with illegally soliciting campaign contributions for Carona from her colleagues.

Meanwhile, the state attorney general’s office is investigating allegations that Carona sexually harassed two women and that he improperly billed his election committee for $130,000 in expenses.

Hunt, who has been trying to capitalize on the bad publicity, will be looking for a victory today in court, when a judge is scheduled to hear arguments about whether his ballot statement can say Carona “has given us one scandal after another and his record is a failure.”

Supporters of the sheriff are challenging the wording on the grounds that ballot statements must be biographical and cannot attack an opponent.