Alex Villanueva

Alejandro Villanueva is an American law enforcement officer who served as the 33rd sheriff of Los Angeles County, California from 2018 until 2022. He defeated incumbent sheriff Jim McDonnell in the 2018 L.A. County Sheriff's race, making him the first to unseat an incumbent in over 100 years. Before becoming Sheriff, he was a lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The first member of the Democratic Party to be elected Sheriff in 138 years, Villanueva campaigned as a reformer and appealed to some progressive values, but has received notoriety for more conservative policies during his tenure, as well as high levels of corruption. Villanueva lost his bid for reelection in 2022 against former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna. Early life and education Villanueva was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1963 to a Puerto Rican father and Polish-American mother. His family moved to Rochester, New York at an early age. When Villanueva was nine years old, his family moved to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, where he learned Spanish and walked to school while reading books along the rural back roads beside sugar cane fields. He began his college education while in Puerto Rico, Villanueva earned an associate degree in Liberal Arts from San Bernardino Valley College in 1986 and a Bachelor of Liberal Studies from the University of the State of New York, Regents College, now known as Excelsior College. Villanueva then earned a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Northridge and a Doctorate of Public Administration from University of La Verne. Villanueva's dissertation was on the subject of leadership diversity in law enforcement.