Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer was handily reelected Tuesday, fending off challenges from three opponents to earn another term as the county’s top prosecutor.
Spitzer was challenged in the race by Democratic-endorsed candidate Pete Hardin, a former federal and state prosecutor, as well as Bryan Chehock, an attorney for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and former Orange County prosecutor Michael Jacobs.
It was a hard-hitting race, as Hardin has harped on sexual and racial harassment lawsuits filed against the county involving ex-prosecutor Gary LoGalbo, who was best man at Spitzer’s wedding.
Spitzer also lost endorsements from other top prosecutors in the state when it was disclosed that Spitzer — during a meeting to discuss whether to pursue the death penalty against a Black murder defendant — said some Black men date white women to elevate their social status. An Orange County Superior Court judge on Friday found Spitzer violated the Racial Justice Act in that case.
Civil rights leaders also condemned Spitzer for repeating a racial slur during a gathering of Orange County attorneys as the prosecutor touted his office’s work cracking down on hate crimes.
Spitzer in turn criticized Hardin, a former Marine, for getting into trouble in the military for infidelity and for allegedly harassing a domestic violence victim for a date when he was a state prosecutor.
Orange County voters also cast ballots Tuesday in the races for three of the five county supervisor seats.
Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmiento and Garden Grove City Councilwoman Kim Bernice Nguyen will be heading to a November runoff in the race for the Second District supervisor post.
Orange County Board Chairman Doug Chaffee, a Democrat, will also move to a November runoff, squaring off with Democratic Party-endorsed candidate Sunny Park, the mayor of Buena Park.
In the Fifth Supervisor District, incumbent Democratic Supervisor Katrina Foley was falling short of the 50% mark needed to avoid a runoff. As results trickled in Tuesday night, Foley appeared heading for a runoff with former Supervisor Pat Bates, who was termed out as state senator.