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Published on 11/02/1998 All articles from this issue

Laurie Smith wins sheriff job in a landslide over Ruben Diaz

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

The first woman ever to be elected sheriff of Santa Clara County didn't just squeak into office. She won by a whopping 20-percent spread.

Laurie Smith received 59.9 percent of the vote to 40.1 percent for her opponent Ruben Diaz.

"It's time to move forward," Smith, 47, said in an interview following the election. "This is really exciting. I can feel the excitement in the department."

The Deputy Sheriffs Association had endorsed Smith before the election, with 137 votes for Smith and 16 for Diaz.

At the same time, a new sheriff is a change "and change is always difficult," she said.

Smith and Diaz currently both are assistant sheriffs and have been since 1990.

Smith, of Palo Alto, had moved up from within the ranks of the sheriff's department. Diaz came from Foster City where he had been an assistant police chief. His former boss, Foster City Police Chief Robert Norman, endorsed Smith.

She "has excellent people skills," Norman said at Smith's victory party at the Three Flames Restaurant in San Jose on election night. "She will pull the department together. She's a strong leader, a consensus builder."

Most likely there will be a change in the top ranks in the sheriff's office after Smith takes over the $131,560-year job on Jan. 4.

During the campaign both Smith and Diaz said they would be considering a new structure that would have an under-sheriff position. This would create a clear second-in-command person, rather than the current structure with the assistant sheriffs.

Some analysts attribute Smith's strong victory to the fact that Santa Clara County is supportive of women in top elected posts.

The Democratic Party withdrew its endorsement of Diaz after a bi-partisan Campaign Ethics Foundation on Oct. 30 found that he had committed four violations of a pledge to run a clean campaign.

Smith, 47, lives in Palo Alto with her husband, Brannan, a retired captain in the San Jose Police Department, and their daughter, Shannon, 16.

Shannon is not worried about what her friends think about her mom being the sheriff.

"They like it," Shannon said. "I stand up for my mom." In fact several of her friends stood with Shannon at Smith's victory party, cheering as returns came in.

Smith is the second woman to become one of the 58 sheriffs in California. In June a woman was elected sheriff in Yuba County.

The sheriff's department provides law enforcement to the unincorporated areas of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, and by contract to the town of Los Altos Hills.