today, jensen, a retired veteran sheriff's officer, who once ran against lori smith, began laying out the contact of jensen versus johnson. >> we don't want anything to go negative or dirty but we certainly know that there are ways to fight for it. me, being there for 37 years and fighting internally has given me some experience with the department. truck if jensen is retired, johnson is not. >> i have been in this profession far longer and i have also actually been doing this job in the last couple of years. i think voters will start to see that. >> reporter: two current deputies, both drew a significant number of votes, and both finalists will need to woo those supporters. >> i look forward to working with both of them. i would love that opportunity, to really talk with their supporters as well, so that they can see that we aren't that far apart in what we want to do for the organization and this county. >> the three that have all worked there before knew the pain of what happened and felt it, in some way or another. and, there is that bond between us. truck while the finalists took

. >> reporter: it is the first time that lori smith was not on the ballot but the incumbent sheriff cast a shadow on the race. at this point, the two main candidates who appear poised for a run up are bob johnson, the police chief in palo alto, who has had a lot of experience both in los angeles county sheriff's office as well as being a chief in menlo park pick the other challenger seems to be kevin jensen. a long time service officer who ran against lori smith before and feels as though his experience in running against her before is helping him now. both focus a lot on cleaning up the department in making the up for the mess it is in right now in terms of morale. now, there are still plenty of votes to count and the other two candidates christina guy and allen who are current sheriff's deputies are still pulling pretty well but still, at this point, it looks like bob johnson and kevin johnson are headed for a runoff in november. >>> this morning, results are still trickling in. our website is a great place for updates. head to nbcbayarea.com , click on the top story and that will take

kevin jensen made the top two spots and is a retired sheriff deputy who actually ran against lori smithdid not win. robert jonsen will also appear on the ballot pick he is the head of the palo alto police department and also headed up the menlo park police. to the san jose mayor's race, the two topsy candidates are poised for a runoff in our a veteran of politics and the other a relative newcomer. santa clara county supervisor cindy chavez was the top vote getter last night and is well known having also served on the san jose city council. her likely opponent will be matt mahan, a first term councilman. >> i think the most important thing i offer is a track record of accomplishment and experience in the public sector. the city of san jose is a big ship and it needs to return in a new direction and that will take experience and that is what i am running and that is why i decided to run in the first place. >> i think voters want to see accountability for results. i think we are doing a lot of the same things and expecting a different outcome. it's time to take a different direction. voter

we have been talking to some of the candidates as well and in that race, the incumbent, lori smith, for various reasons, including fighting some scandals is departing the office after about 24 years. some of the names that are running are fairly familiar, including kevin johnson, who ran against her before. bob johnson, the police chief in palo alto and christine -- and sean allen are veteran sheriffs deputies that have decided to challenge for that spot and it has been an interesting raise. people used to be in law enforcement are not used to being politicians. so far political analyst feel as though there will be a runoff and there will not be an outright winner. just like predicted in the mayoral race and that is because of the number of candidates. a lot will depend on a number of ballots that come in. we will find out the results later. raj, back to you. >> good information . here are the local races being monitored. the potential recall of the san francisco district attorney levine is out there. is he to progressive? lets go to terry mcsweeney. we are hearing he is doing exactly w

in santa clara county, sheriff lori smith decided not to seek another term after a string of controversies. currently, robert johnson with the lead over kevin jensen. meanwhile, it looks like incumbent rozen will win another term as district attorney. and contra costa county diana becton also holds a steady lead. >> let's go to the top. governor newsom breezed to an early win. with 60% of the vote. br brian dahle is running to replace him in november. and padilla told us tonight he is proud of what he's accom accomplished so far. >> thanks to the american rescue plan, so many cities and counties and school districts were able to stay afloat. we helped struggling families and small business owners and funded vaccines, manufacture and distribution which has put us in much better place for covid. >> reporter: and on the peninsula, assemblyman mullen is leading to replace jackie speier. he was her personal pick. and california attorney general rob banta easily won a top spot on the november ballot, grabbing nearly 58% of the vote. banta, also a democrat will likely face nathan hockman. former

lorie smith, founder of 303 creative and her attorney of the alliance defending freedom both join usg us. >> thank you. >> shannon: recent writing about this, the court determined that colorado's law had not been neutrally applied because clear and impermissible hostility to phillips religious views. this was the baker. if that ruling seems like a dodge, the court appears ready to tangle with the underlying issue in 303 creative. lorie, your case makes it to the supreme court as we have been watching for years for want to get there. do you feel the weight of that? >> it has been an incredible six year journey, but so very grateful that i have this opportunity, very rare chance to go before the highest court in the land, to stand and protects not only my freedom, but the freedom for all americans. i am looking forward to it. >> shannon: this is what the revised statute says. it is a discriminatory practice for a person to deny to an individual or group because of disability, race, creed, color, sexual orientation, ancestry, full and equal enjoyment of the goods and services that you a

sheriff lori smith is stepping down under corruption allegations.e's also looking for a new mayor. san ricardo is being turned out of office. raul promise, matt van and doug betas are here. the hottest issue is housing, homeless and crime. >> as with the sheriff's contest, if someone does not get a runaway vote it will be a runoff in november. >>> if you've not already done it, get ready to vote tomorrow by mail or in person. 22 million ballots mailed out in california. only 3 million are in. state why that is about 15%. we are still looking at historic lows. even in san francisco where they have to decide whether or not to return this one. turnout is currently at 20%. >> there's a lot of money but that doesn't mean that they are getting engaged in the same way. in georgia they are having record primaries mostly because the voters there feel like the future of the country is in their hands. voters in california do not seem to have the same passion. >> politico data inc. says voter turnout could be lower than 30%. but we have you covered for tomorrow

been a sore spot for the sheriff's department, no one was expecting such a sudden move by sheriff lori smith. her memo dropped friday afternoon saying, quote, regrettably, the sheriff's office will no longer be able to staff the palo alto and south county court facilities effective june 13th, 2022. >> it's like an october surprise. you know it's coming, but you want to drop it right before anybody can react to it. >> reporter: gary goodman supervises the public defender's office at the palo alto courthouse. without deputies to provide security, the courthouses would effectively have to shut down. >> this building needs to stay open. we serve the underserved. north carolina county residents deserve a place to come and get their cases resolved. >> reporter: sheriff smith was not available for comment, but her office sent a comment saying her plan would allow deputies from outlying areas to consolidate and open nor courthouses downtown. but the move got a strong rebuke from the county's presiding judge. a memo sent to smith says, quote, it's disappointing and surprising to hear on such short no

sheriff lori smith is retiring.we know the two candidates are replacing her are coming from within the department and the other from outside the kevin jensen made the top spot and is a retired santa clara county sheriff's deputy. who has opposed sheriff smith before he lost in the election. robert jonsen will also appear on the ballot and is the head of the palo alto police department who also headed up the menlo political the police in certain los angeles sheriff's department. to the san jose mayor's race for the top two candidates are poised for our runoff and they are a veteran of self-pay politics and a relative newcomer. the supervisor cindy chavez was the top vote getter as of last night and is very well known having served on the san jose city council as well. her likely opponent will be matt mahan, a first term council member. >> i think the most important thing i offer is a track record of accomplishment and experience in a public sector. the city of san jose is a big ship and it needs to turn in a new dire

sheriff space, kevin jensen is a retired santa clara sheriff's deputy who try to unseat sheriff lori smithalto police job -- he is a former head of the menlo police department and served in the los angeles sheriff's department. >>> at the -- >>> the san mateo bridge is barely moving and mike is tweeting about that so follow him on twitter. >>> we're seeing temperatures heating up. our inland valleys are headed for 100 degrees on friday. it will be a hot start to the weekend but some relief on sunday. >>> welcome back 7:30 up close and personal with the crowd. one of the breakout stars from "jurassic world" movie >> went outside. got a little close dinosaur owes me a shirt yes. >> incredible. nothing says welcome to the "today show" like a giant dinosaur in your face. >> i love it -- going to be here. join the fun next hour. >> hopefully they are more polite than the dinosaur. >> -- failing to stop dr. larry nasser the majority say nasser abused them after his abuse was reported leaving him free to continue women and young girls more than a year the justice department announced last month t