Villanueva ousts incumbent in race for Los Angeles sheriff

Alex Villanueva scored an upset win in the race for Los Angeles County sheriff, making Jim McDonnell the first incumbent to lose the seat in more than a century.

Villanueva, a retired sheriff's lieutenant, proclaimed victory last week. But McDonnell had declined to concede, saying he would wait for all the votes to be counted in the contest to lead the nation's largest sheriff's department.

According to City News Service, he finally admitted defeat yesterday after updated election results showed Villanueva leading by nearly 126,000 votes with only 100,000 ballots left to be counted. McDonnell promised an orderly transition of power.

Villanueva is expected to be sworn in next week.