Dead Sheriff Reelected by Landslide

A sheriff who died in April defeated the only living candidate on the June 3 ballot by a 4-1 margin, forcing a special election next March, San Mateo County officials announced Monday.

Sheriff Brendan Maguire received 79% of the vote to just 20% for challenger Jim White, the count clerk said. The final count was 81,679 for Maguire, who died of a heart attack April 21, to 20,839 for White, a guard at the U.S. Mint.

Maguire’s victory sets up a special election to be scheduled for next March by county supervisors.

A spokeswoman for White said he was unavailable for comment. On Sunday, White said he had been outpolled by Maguire but would run in the special election, even while maintaining he had won.

“First of all, there’s no he,” White, 31, said of Maguire. “He doesn’t exist anymore. It’s simply a mandate from the voters that they want a new election where the issues can be brought out.”

Maguire’s supporters accused White of being unqualified because he was fired from the Dallas County (Texas) Sheriff’s Department in 1979, and had critically wounded a teen-ager when he was 15.

After Maguire’s death, the California Legislature quickly passed a law postponing the election until August. Then the state Supreme Court ruled that the election had to take place, and the results sealed. The state Court of Appeal then ordered the ballots counted, ruling that the voters had a choice even if one of the candidates was dead.