Palo Alto Police Chief Robert Jonsen and retired Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Capt. Kevin Jensen appeared ticketed for a runoff election Tuesday after neither had a majority of the initial reported vote in the race for county sheriff.
Jonsen had 33.8 percent of the vote while Jensen was just behind at 30.1 percent. No other candidate had more than 20 percent in the race, according to unofficial election results from the county Registrar of Voters.
Both men are vying to replace Laurie Smith, the county’s embattled longtime sheriff who declined to run for a seventh term.
Prior to serving as police chief in Palo Alto, Jonsen was the chief of police in Menlo Park and spent 27 years in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department before retiring as a captain.
Jensen retired in 2013 after working in various roles within the county jail system and the sheriff’s office for three decades.
