Resigned Official Who Quit Race After Guilty Pleas Still Makes Runoff

A former chief deputy coroner beat out three other candidates to qualify for a runoff for Riverside County coroner and public administrator, even though he pleaded guilty to two felonies, resigned from office and withdrew from the race in April.

Carl B. Smith Jr., who as a felon is ineligible to hold elective office, might not appear on the November ballot, however, if another candidate challenges his second-place finish, Registrar of Voters Bob Morgan said Wednesday.

In other Riverside County races, two incumbent supervisors failed to capture electoral majorities Tuesday, forcing runoffs in which one will face a Riverside City Council member and the other will face a former council member.

Final results in the coroner’s race showed Smith, with 33,787 votes (27.9%), finishing second in the polling to Raymond L. Carrillo, one of three other deputy coroners in the race. Carrillo collected 40,168 votes (33.2%).

“Carrillo and Carl Smith will be the candidates to appear on the November ballot, unless it is contested,” Morgan said. “. . . If that happens, the courts will decide.”

Third-place finisher R. M. (Mickey) Worthington, who collected 26,663 votes, could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but county officials said he had indicated to them that he will file a challenge.

Smith views his strong showing as a statement of support after 15 years in the coroner’s office, he said Wednesday. “I am pleasantly surprised . . . considering I didn’t do any campaigning and all the adverse publicity.”

The charges against Smith were related to a grand jury investigation of alleged improper practices in hiring secretaries and unlicensed embalmers for the coroner’s office, said Gary Tranbarger, deputy district attorney.

Smith was sentenced to five years’ probation and fined $8,500 on the two counts, Tranbarger said. Six additional counts of perjury were dropped following guilty pleas.

‘Wasting Your Vote’

“I sure would like to be the coroner, but I don’t think there’s any way I can be,” Smith said Wednesday. “I told people, ‘don’t vote for me, you’re wasting your vote.’ ”

Sgt. Timothy J. Smith of the Sheriff’s Department finished fourth in the race with 17,132 votes, and Smith’s successor as chief deputy coroner, Scotty D. Hill, failed to garner much support as a write-in candidate. Only 3,418 ballots--less than 3%--were cast for write-ins.

In the race for 2nd District supervisor, incumbent Melba Dunlap--whose district includes Norco, northern Corona and central Riverside--garnered 10,199 votes, or 42.6% of the ballots cast. Sam Digati, the Riverside councilman she will face in November, placed second with 7,231 votes, or 30.2%.

Thomas J. Watson, an investment broker whom many considered the strongest of Dunlap’s three challengers, won 22.4% of the vote to finish third. David L. Russell, who before the campaign had been involved in a group seeking cityhood for most of the district’s unincorporated area, got 4.6% of the vote.

Second Finisher Far Down

In the 5th District, which encompasses Moreno Valley, Perris and much of Riverside, incumbent Norton Younglove and Edwin G. Shepard, recently a Riverside councilman, will compete for the supervisor’s seat in November.

Shepard placed a distant second, with 18.4% of the vote to Younglove’s 48.1%. But the rest of the vote was split among four other candidates, including Perris Councilwoman Carmen Cox, who finished third, less than 1,100 votes behind Shepard.

No matter who wins the runoff contests, the five-member Board of Supervisors will continue to be dominated by residents of the City of Riverside. All four candidates live in the county’s largest city, as does 1st District Supervisor Walt P. Abraham.

Patricia (Corky) Larson of Palm Springs easily retained her seat on the Board of Supervisors, taking 68% of the vote in the 4th District, which takes in the desert area from Palm Springs to the Colorado River.