Who should lead Shasta County Elections Office? Readers who voted have a favorite
Record Searchlight/Redding.com readers have spoken on who they think should be Shasta County's next clerk and registrar of voters.
Readers who took the unscientific poll picked overwhelmingly Joanna Francescut, who is the assistant clerk and registrar of voters. Of the 1,639 votes cast, nearly 90%, or 1,446, voted for Francescut.
Coming in a distant second was former District 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones, who had 91 votes.
Clint Curtis came in third with 78 votes. Curtis was a finalist for the job last summer and the preferred candidate of Supervisor Chris Kelstrom and Jones. Both ended up joining Supervisor Kevin Crye in the 3-2 vote that gave Tom Toller the job. Curtis is a lawyer from Florida, former computer programmer and a self-described elections expert who has advocated returning to hand-counting ballots.
Bob Holsinger came in fourth place with 13 votes, followed by other with 11 votes. He ran against former ROV Cathy Darling Allen in June 2022. Darling Allen received nearly 70% of the vote in defeating her challenger.
Of those that chose other, two wrote in Laura Hobbs and one wrote in Richard Gallardo. Hobbs has twice sued the county registrar voters, alleging unverified evidence of fraud. In October 2020, Gallardo gained notoriety when during the board's public comment period he made a citizen's arrest on all five supervisors and then-County Counsel Rubin Cruse Jr. over COVID-19 restrictions.
The poll was open from March 31 to April 6.
Jones on Monday said he is considering applying for the job but will not decide until April 18, which is two days before the deadline to apply.
'I will look at the list (of applicants) and make my decision then,' Jones told the Record Searchlight in a text message.
Francescut, a veteran of the election office after more than 16 years on the job, applied for the top position of her department after her boss, Cathy Darling Allen, retired. But the Board of Supervisors passed her over and picked Tom Toller, who at that time was in semi-retirement from his job as a former prosecutor.
Nonetheless, Francescut stayed on in her role as Toller's assistant.
Francescut has not said publicly if she will apply. Toller is endorsing Francescut to be his successor after he retires at the end of April.
Supervisors will conduct interviews with job candidates during a public meeting tentatively scheduled for April 30.
David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He's part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Who should lead Shasta elections office? Joanna Francescut, poll says
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