LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County voters on Tuesday made it clear that they wanted a new sheriff-coroner, with the overwhelming majority casting their votes for a law enforcement veteran who hopes to repair relationships and rebuild the department's morale.
Brian Martin, 42, the county's assistant chief probation officer who formerly served as a lieutenant with the sheriff's office, won the sheriff's race with 51.4 percent of the vote. He needed 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a November runoff.
Frank Rivero, the incumbent whose first term has been marked by controversy, placement on a listing of officers with credibility issues, and clashes with other local law enforcement and the county Board of Supervisors, received 25.9 percent of the vote.
Rivero would not offer comment when approached by Lake County News at TNT on the Lake on Tuesday evening, where he and his supporters were watching the election returns.
Bob Chalk, the retired Clearlake Police chief who also had chosen to challenge Rivero's leadership, received 22.7 percent of the vote.
“It's still sinking in,” Martin said in a phone interview with Lake County News early Wednesday morning. “I didn't expect this.”
Martin led the entire night, coming out with a 49-percent lead once the majority of absentees were counted.
From that point on, his lead only increased, with Rivero and Chalk never gaining enough ground to challenge him or push the race to a November runoff.
An Army veteran who served as a paratrooper and military police officer, Martin also worked as a police officer with the Pismo Beach Police Department, was a California Department of Justice special agent, as well as a sergeant and lieutenant with the Lake County Sheriff's Office before joining the Lake County Probation Department in 2012.
Martin entered the race in March of 2013, at which time he was part of an attempt to recall Rivero, who the Board of Supervisors gave a unanimous no confidence vote and asked to resign. The recall effort failed to garner the needed amount of signatures.
However, Martin wasn't deterred by the recall failure. He continued to campaign, setting his sights on this year's race and running on a platform that sought to restore pride and integrity to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
“It's been a long, long haul, with help from hundreds of people,” he said.
Getting top billing among his supporters is wife Crystal, who works as an advocate for child abuse and sexual assault victims in the District Attorney's Office's Victim-Witness Division. The couple have three children and are active in the community.
Martin comes from a family dedicated to public service. His father, Richard Martin, is a Lake County Superior Court judge. His mother, Joyce Campbell, has worked for the Lake County District Attorney's Office and now is a family law facilitator for the Glenn County Superior Court.
Looking ahead, Martin said the best thing about winning in the primary is that, rather than having to spend the next five months campaigning, he can instead use that time to plan and prepare for taking over the sheriff's office.
“There's a lot of improvements that we're going to make,” Martin said, explaining that it's important to have those ideas mapped out before he gets into office.
Martin already has good working relationships with law enforcement around the county, having come into the race with the endorsement of the Lake County Peace Officers Association and the Lake County Safety Employees Association. He also received an endorsement from the California Robbery Investigators Association.
“I can't tell you what a good feeling it is,” Martin said of his decisive Tuesday win.
“We're going to do what's right for the county,” he said. “That's what this is about.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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