Shasta County to use outside counsel in lawsuit filed by supervisor election loser

An outside law firm will represent Shasta County in a lawsuit against its registrar of voters and the winner of the District 2 supervisor race.

Supervisors voted 4-0 Tuesday in closed session to use outside counsel. Supervisor Mary Rickert was not in attendance.

On Thursday, Supervisor Tim Garman told the Record Searchlight that the decision to retain outside counsel in the election lawsuit “just needed to be that way with this particular item.” He declined to elaborate.

Laura Hobbs, who came in second by a large margin in the District 2 supervisor election, claims in her lawsuit that there were numerous errors in tabulating the votes, with some of them “intentional.”

Hobbs has repeated those claims at supervisors’ meetings and Shasta County Election Commission meetings.

“She is just a sore loser. There’s been no proven fraud that they have tried to find, but this is a way to keep it going,” Garman said to the Record Searchlight.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in Shasta County Superior Court in early April — a month after the March 5 primary — Hobbs asks a judge to “find moot the nomination of Allen Long as winner” of the election.

She names Long and Registrar of Voters Cathy Darling Allen as defendants.

Hobbs has at least one outspoken ally on the board.

District 4 Supervisor Patrick Jones during Tuesday’s meeting echoed Hobbs’ skepticism about the election results. Jones lost his bid for re-election on March 5 to challenger Matt Plummer by 20 percentage points.

Hobbs’ lawsuit also was brought up at the April 22 Shasta County Elections Commission meeting as she was allowed to give a presentation over her findings in the March 5 primary.

On Tuesday, Jones called Hobbs’ presentation “eye-opening” and an example of why he appreciates having the elections advisory group. Jones attended the elections commission meeting.

He said that Hobbs found “the same discrepancies that we saw in (the) 2022 (election).”

There has been no verifiable evidence of massive fraud in the 2022 June primary or November general election.

Given his endorsement of Hobbs’ findings, Jones was asked by the Record Searchlight if he would recuse himself before supervisors went into closed session on Tuesday to discuss the lawsuit. He said he does not have a financial stake in the matter, so he would not.

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Jones also is appointing Patty Plumb to replace Bev Gray — who he originally appointed ― on the election commission. Gray has resigned. Plumb’s recommended appointment is on the April 30 supervisors’ meeting agenda.

Both Plumb and Gray are advocates of Hobbs.

Plum has acted as Hobbs’ spokeswoman for the lawsuit.

As a declarant in the lawsuit, Gray supports Hobbs’ litigation against the county.

Meanwhile, Dawn Duckett —— who also resigned from the Shasta County Election Commission — told Jones during public comment at Tuesday’s board meeting that “the voters have spoken loud and clear” and they are tired of the false claims of fraudulent or rigged elections.

“We are tired of the elections commission, we are tired of Laura Hobbs and we are tired of you, Supervisor Jones,” Duckett said.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on X, formerly Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 530-338-8323. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta County will use outside law firm in March 5 election lawsuit