The Cupertino Courier

Diaz and Sing endorsements heat up the sheriff race

By Pam Marino

The Santa Clara County sheriff's race revved up this week as two candidates, assistant sheriffs Tom Sing and Ruben Diaz, announced major endorsements that will raise their profiles and campaign coffers above those of other candidates.

On Friday, March 6, Sing announced he has the endorsement of outgoing Sheriff Chuck Gillingham. The endorsement came as a surprise, because Gillingham had told the press and other candidates he would not be endorsing anyone in the election. Gillingham is running for a San Jose City Council seat.

On Tuesday, March 10, Diaz officially launched his campaign with the endorsement of San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer, as well as those of Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Blanca Alvarado, San Jose Vice Mayor Margie Fernandez and San Jose City Councilmembers George Shirakawa and Manny Diaz.

Diaz would not specifically say why he thought his boss, Gillingham, passed over two other assistant sheriffs running for office to endorse Sing.

"The only thing I can say is he [Gillingham] did what was politically beneficial to himself," Diaz said Monday. He declined to comment on how helpful or hurtful Gillingham's endorsement was. He sidestepped the question by saying how proud he was of his own endorsements. He said Hammer and others have endorsed him "because I'm the most qualified candidate, with 15 years of executive management experience."

Sing could not be reached for comment. In an earlier interview he said that his only political experience had been working on Gillingham's past sheriff campaigns. He attended the sheriff's academy with Gillingham more than 30 years ago.

"He's a tough act to follow," Sing said of Gillingham. "He has so much heart; he cares about everybody."

Eclipsed by these major announcements, Assistant Sheriff Laurie Smith officially launched her campaign for Santa Clara County Sheriff last Thursday, March 5. The announcement received little attention, despite the fact that Smith is the first woman to ever run for the post.

There are four major candidates in the June primary: Diaz, Sing, Smith and Sgt. Jose Salcido. A handful of lesser-known candidates have stated their intention to run; the filing period ends this Friday.

If any one of the top four candidates win, the new sheriff will be a history-maker. Diaz and Salcido are Hispanic; Sing is Asian. There have been no Hispanic or Asian sheriffs in this county and no Hispanic or female sheriffs in California's history.

Salcido, a former vice president of the Deputy Sheriffs Association of Santa Clara County, has been endorsed by that organization, as well as the Law Enforcement Political Action Council (LEPAC), whose approximately 2,200 represent nine peace officer associations.

"We hope all elected officials and community leaders join the rank-and-file peace officers in their support of Jose Salcido," LEPAC Chairman Stewart Cusimano said in an announcement last month. Salcido has also been endorsed by the Sunnyvale Public Safety Officers Association and the San Jose Police Officers Association. He has been endorsed by former mayors Barbara Koppel of Cupertino, Ann Marie Berger of Saratoga and Tom McEnery of San Jose.

The other candidates include San Jose residents R. Brian Beck and Wayne Brown, Alexander Rawls of Palo Alto and Jeffrey R. Morgan of Campbell. They are little known and do not have major financial or political backing.

Rawls, a carpenter, does not have law enforcement experience, as required by a nine-year-old state law. The law states that anyone running for sheriff in California must have at least one year of law enforcement experience. Candidates can also qualify with an advanced certificate from the state Commission on Peace Officer Training and Standards.

Rawls filed a lawsuit against state election officials, arguing that the law violates his constitutional rights. He has said publicly he wants to challenge what he calls the "law enforcement establishment" and make sweeping changes. Rawls advocates liberalizing gun permit laws, as well as giving rebates to motorists who receive traffic tickets.

Acting as his own attorney, he appeared before a Sacramento judge on Friday arguing for the law to be struck down. He was not available for comment at press time.

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