The race for California’s top cop focuses on abortion, gun control and crime.
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Thursday November 28, 2015 6:28 AM
SAN BERNARDINO — The race for California’s top cop may go down to the wire, with the San Bernardino County coroner’s preliminary finding that the county had failed to turn over an undated autopsy report that might have helped determine a long-running court case.
The race for California’s top cop focuses on abortion, gun control and crime. The four-way race pits Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas against Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom against Los Angeles County District Attorney Ed Smith, and former Sheriff Lee Baca against former Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.
It’s a tough race, pitting an incumbent on top against someone who was a top finisher in last year’s gubernatorial election. It’s also a bit of a surprise. The race has been seen as a bit of a two-horse race so far: one for governor and the next for the Senate.
The top of the race may come down to the California Department of Public Health, which has been the go-to agency when it comes to investigating and reporting a wide array of public health issues.
But state epidemiologist Richard Besser said it’s not the department’s role to weigh in on the coroner’s report. The report is not the type of thing a DPH official wants to weigh in on.
“If we did weigh in on it, there was nothing in there in regards to
