Riverside Elections Chief Exits—With $800,000 Settlement

Riverside County’s chief elections officer Rebecca Spencer resigned from her post last Friday. Under the terms of a settlement, she’s walking away with $799,591. 

It’s unclear why Spencer resigned. In 2021, she had a public dust-up with District Attorney Mike Hestrin after she accused him of election interference. According to the Press-Enterprise, the county’s election services vendor recently sent a letter to Supervisor Kevin Jeffries accusing Spencer of election mishaps, which she allegedly blamed on the vendor. Spencer’s attorney has denied that claim. In 2021, Spencer faulted a printing vendor for the late delivery of 11,000 mail-in ballots.

Spencer was first placed on administrative leave last month – a move that her lawyer called “totally retaliatory and political in nature.”

County spokesperson Brooke Federico says the settlement with Spencer is not an admission of any wrongdoing by either party. Federico declined to provide any information on what led to Spencer’s resignation.

Spencer had served as Riverside’s Registrar of Voters since 2014. The county’s assistant registrar Art Tinoco is expected to assume the interim role while the county searches for a permanent replacement.