From left, Los Alamos County Sheriff candidate David Izraelvitz, League of Women Voters of Los Alamos President Felicia Orth and Sheriff candidate Antonio Maggiore attend the League’s 2026 Primary Candidate Forum Thursday at UNM-LA. Photo by Tomás Redondo/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
Kirsten@ladailypost.com
To prove they are worthy of the public’s vote, two candidates for Los Alamos County Sheriff made their pitch during the League of Women Voters of Los Alamos 2026 Primary Candidate Forum Thursday at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos.
The Sheriff candidates are David Izraelvitz, D, and Antonio Maggiore, D.
Izraelvitz’s campaign is unique because he wants to be Sheriff to eliminate the Sheriff position.
Spending 11-and-a-half years as a member of the County Council, Izraelevitz said he understands the role of the local Sheriff, which does not perform typical law enforcement services.
“Our Sheriff does not perform law enforcement or manage our jails, or serve summons or eviction notices,” Izraelevitz said. “This is a consequence of the County and the municipality of Los Alamos being the same entity. For the last 10 years the sole remaining legal role for the Sheriff has been to maintain the residence and employment of about six sex offenders registered in Los Alamos but through the training and other requirements our police also do this instead of the Sheriff.”
While 10 years ago voters defeated the question of ending the Sheriff’s office, Izraelevitz said things have changed. There has been minimal Sheriff involvement in the last 10 years and the current Sheriff, Jason Wardlow Herrera, is not running for re-election so no one is being voted out of a job.
Furthermore, there is a high reputational cost to fund an unnecessary position, he said.
“It erodes public trust,” Izraelevtiz said. “It degrades the morale of our County staff who are expected to do their jobs in a financially responsible manner. Also costly are the numerous lawsuits the County has faced because multiple sheriffs attempted to act outside of their legal roles.”
If elected, Izraelevitz said he would donate any income to charity because “I don’t feel it is appropriate to receive a salary for a job with no real duties.”
He will also prepare an education and transition plan to put the question to voters in 2028 on whether to end the position.
Maggiore said 10 years ago, he agreed with Izraelevitz that the sheriff position should be eliminated, but now he is glad that voters were opposed.
“I think the Sheriff is an important role in our community,” Maggiore said. “I think the communities in general feel safer about having someone who is an elected law enforcement representative because they feel they have someone that they can approach, who understands they stand for the community, not for the organization. I think the role has been underutilized by the past few office holders. I think they have viewed it as just sit there and collect a paycheck and let the police staff do the work. That’s not my intent.”
Maggiore said he felt the Sheriff should sit in regular interviews with offenders to learn if the process is working correctly for the community. He added that he feels it is also an opportunity to facilitate better relations with the police. A lot of people are uncomfortable approaching police officers, Maggiore said, so an elected, unarmed official is an added benefit.
During the question-and-answer period, the candidates were asked what enforcement authority they think the Sheriff has.
Maggiore responded, saying usually a Sheriff has authority over unincorporated land, but since Los Alamos does not have any unincorporated land, the Sheriff’s sole duty is to maintain the sex offender registry, which he said is the only thing not handled by the Police Department.
Izraelevitz said the boundary of the city is the same as the county, so there are no parts that are not enforced by the police.
Residents will choose between Izraelevitz and Maggiore when casting their vote in the 2026 Primary Election on June 2.