Supervisor Karen Spiegel, Who Represents Lake Elsinore, Favored In Primary Election

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — Ballot counting is underway to determine whether Riverside County Board of Supervisors Chair Karen Spiegel garnered enough votes to fend off a challenger.

Spiegel, who represents District 2 — which includes Lake Elsinore and Canyon Lake, among other areas — was first elected to the board in 2018 and again in 2022. She is favored to win a third term in her race against self-described "human rights advocate" Sukhbir Singh Gill.

Live primary election results are below (use the scroll bar to the right to see all races, including the District 2 Supervisor contest). If you can't see the real-time tallies, click here.

Spiegel has been an unerring law enforcement supporter and stood alone in opposing a 2020 board resolution that called out Minneapolis police officers connected to the in-custody death of George Floyd. Another supervisor abstained during the 3-1 vote in favor of the proclamation, which Spiegel argued was over-broad and unfairly mischaracterized peace officers as a whole.

One of the central themes of Gill's campaign against the incumbent is sheriff's operations and the repeated instances in which deputies have been arrested or convicted stemming from actions in the jails, on duty during patrol, or off duty and interacting with the public.

"Only one in five supervisors has even considered establishing an ad- hoc committee for civilian oversight of the sheriff," the candidate said during a recent supervisors' meeting. "Since (Sheriff) Chad Bianco has been in office, crimes in the county have risen by 18%. Not to mention that Karen's husband has joined Bianco's campaign (for governor)."

Spiegel has consistently received endorsements from the Riverside Sheriffs' Association.

She's backed strategies for reducing homelessness, regularly advocated for expansion of veterans' services and has been engaged in efforts to improve confidence in the Office of the Registrar of Voters, serving on a committee with former Supervisor Kevin Jeffries for that purpose.