Solano County incumbent District Attorney Krishna Abrams is poised to beat out her opponent Sharon Henry in the county’s primary election Tuesday, receiving more than 60 percent of the vote based on the initial unofficial results.
Elected to her first term in 2014, Abrams had a slew of endorsements, including from the Solano County Farm Bureau, U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena; Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara, and police unions throughout the county.
Henry received endorsements from the Solano County Democratic Party, Benicia Mayor Steve Young and Vallejo Mayor Robert McConnell, and Vallejo City Council member Tina Arriola and had grassroots support from advocates and attorneys for families whose loved ones were killed by police in the county.
The race pitted not only two people from the DA’s office — Henry is a chief deputy district attorney for Solano County with 34 years’ experience — but also paired two women who are locked in litigation. Henry filed a federal lawsuit against Abrams in August for race and age discrimination and harassment, citing retaliation for her medical need to work from home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Henry has criticized Abrams’ leadership, saying that over 200 people have left the District Attorney’s Office since she was first elected. Other employees at the DA’s office have alleged a climate of dysfunction and favoritism.
Abrams has also gotten flak for recusing herself from reviewing the controversial officer-involved shooting deaths of both Willie McCoy and Sean Monterrosa in Vallejo, most notably from California Attorney General Rob Bonta, to whom she turned over the cases.
Bonta said that Abrams was fully capable of reviewing the cases herself and that the families of the victims deserved answers. Bonta’s office has agreed to review the Monterrosa killing and Abrams appointed a special prosecutor to examine the McCoy case.
