MADERA COUNTY – A hard-fought race for Madera County District Attorney has ended with incumbent David Linn losing out to his two challengers.
Former Madera County Senior Deputy District Attorney Sally Moreno captured over 44 percent of the vote, followed by the current holder of that position, Paul Hornick, with just over 33 percent.
D.A. Linn, who has been caught up in controversy since he was censured by the Board of Supervisors for “creating a hostile workplace environment and using sexually and racially offensive language,” earned just 22 percent of the vote in his bid for reelection.
In a statement released today, Linn congratulated Hornick and Moreno on their victories in the June 5th primary election, and thanked the citizens of Madera County for giving him the honor of serving as their District Attorney. He also thanked his loyal supporters, “specifically his brother and sister veterans, who worked so hard in a difficult attempt at reelection.”
As to his future, Linn says he will fulfill the obligations of his office until the completion of his term in January 2019. He also pledged to work diligently to ease the transition in the leadership of the office with whoever wins the general election in November. Upon the end of his term, Linn says he will return to private law practice.
Challengers Sally Moreno and Paul Hornick will now turn their sights to the November election.
Moreno left the Madera County D.A.’s Office a few months after Linn was elected in 2014 and moved over to the Fresno County D.A.’s Office, but says her heart has always been in Madera.
“I was born and raised in this community, and Madera County deserves better; they deserve an experienced, career prosecutor,” says Moreno who vows to focus on giving the young deputy district attorneys in the office the tools they need to be successful.
Paul Hornick still works in the office with the current D.A., and says he feels very good about the results of the primary.
“For a guy who had only been in the race for about five months, with not a lot of name recognition, capturing thirty-three percent of the vote is a great result,” says Hornick.
He believes that a lot of Linn’s supporters will give him serious consideration and vote for him in the general election.
“I think it will be a very competitive race, and I’m confident I can win in November.”
Hornick congratulates his boss on running a good campaign, and says he will continue to be respectful to him as Linn serves out the remainder of his term.
Hornick will also continue his campaign of walking, knocking and talking with the citizens of Madera county, attending as many public events as possible, and meeting as many residents as he can while still carrying a full case load at the D.A.’s Office.
The general election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
