A March 4 special election asks San Mateo County voters to grant their Board of Supervisors the power to oust embattled Sheriff Christina Corpus.

A new political soap opera is underway in California. And the backstory offers yet another case study of why voters across the country lost faith last November in the ability of left-leaning officials to make good on promises of sound governance and progressive reform.

On March 4, a special election in San Mateo County will ask voters to grant their Board of Supervisors the power to oust elected Sheriff Christina Corpus two years into her first term — an unusual but speedier mechanism for removal than a traditional recall.

Corpus, a longtime sheriff’s office employee, beat incumbent Carlos Bolanos in 2022 — becoming one of California’s first Latina sheriffs.

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Corpus ran on a platform of reform after Bolanos faced numerous allegations of favoritism — including prioritizing his donors for concealed weapons carry permits and improperly sending deputies to raid the garage of a Batmobile manufacturer in Indiana after one of Bolanos’ friends complained he hadn’t received the car he ordered. In 2007, as undersheriff, Bolanos and then-Sheriff Greg Munks were detained in a Las Vegas brothel raid. 

Corpus promised to eradicate this “good ole boy” mentality and implement ambitious criminal justice reforms, including community policing, improved behavioral health treatment for inmates and expanded services in low-income areas — all laudable goals.

But these reforms have been overshadowed by Corpus’ own web of controversies, which have spawned a confusing tangle of allegations, investigations and lawsuits.

Many center on Victor Aenlle, an associate real estate broker and reserve deputy sheriff whom Corpus has successfully and unsuccessfully........

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