Candidate drops out of DA race, leaves only person running
| Monday, Jun 29 2009 05:07 PM
Last Updated Monday, Jun 29 2009 05:07 PM
The race for the local district attorney's office could be over.
Former prosecutor Bob Barton confirmed Monday he will not run for the job next year.
That leaves prosecutor Lisa Green as the only announced candidate for the position -- for now.
The election will be held in June 2010.
Barton said he thought he had a 50-50 chance of winning the race, but he didn't want to put himself or his family through a rigorous campaign.
Barton said he would have stayed in the race if he felt Green was unqualified.
He said he also would have stuck it out the Kern Law Enforcement Association had endorsed him. But that group said it plans to stay neutral until next year.
KLEA is the county's largest police group, representing sheriff's deputies and district attorney investigators.
Barton noted that Green is certain to wrap up another key group, the Kern County District Attorney's Association. Most of those members are her colleagues, many of whom she helped hire, he said.
Would be candidates have until March 17 to file for the race.
Does Green want a competitor?
"Heck no," she said.
District Attorney Ed Jagels declined to comment on Barton's decision.
Jagels has refused to say if he plans on running in 2010, but it is widely believed he won't. He's been the county's top law enforcement officer since 1983.
At least one attorney believes the race should be contested.
Criminal defense attorney Arturo Revelo said Green would simply be an extension of Jagels' aggressive prosecution policies.
Plus, he said, "I think it would be highly undemocratic to have only one candidate."
Jagels has been criticized as being overly zealous, charging defendants with crimes more severe than the facts warrant.
Even so, Jagels has faced only one contested election -- his first -- in his career.
Meanwhile, Green said she will campaigning in earnest, raising money and seeking endorsements. She said it has been "very humbling" how supportive people have been.
Indeed, she said she's collected $129,000 so far in her bid for the office.
Barton was the first to announce that he would run for the office, back in October 2007. A short time later, Green said she would run too.
Barton was a prosecutor for 17 years. In 2005, he became a manager of an state agency that reviews crimes and policies in California prisons.
Green has been a prosecutor for 25 years, handling many high profile cases including the death penalty case against Vincent Brothers, who was convicted of killing five members of his family.
