Marina Police Chief Tina Nieto wins a decisive victory as the next Monterey County sheriff.

Tina Nieto made history on Tuesday, Nov. 8. She is poised to become the first woman, first person of color and first openly gay person to be elected as Monterey County sheriff, and along with two other Latinas who were elected in the June primary, will join a three-person cohort of the first Latina sheriffs in California.

Early results showed her with a substantial lead, 67 percent of the vote, over Joe Moses. When the results first came in around 8:20pm, the crowd at Mo’s River Road Grill erupted in cheers.

Nieto, who is barely more than 5 feet tall, began her remarks with a joke: “I am Tina and I am standing,” she said before the crowd appeared to swallow her up.

Nieto’s voice began to crack with emotion as she spoke about being a person of faith, and daily prayer during the campaign. “I pray to be a good leader – not to win, but to really do the work for the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office, and help lead us to become the best Sheriff’s Office in the state, if not the nation.”

Among guests – including many current and former Sheriff’s Office employees – change was a theme of the night.

“I’m very happy because I know positive change is just around the corner,” says Jose Mendoza, a retired sheriff’s commander and past candidate himself who, after meeting Nieto, decided to drop out of the 2022 race. “To me, it was a no-brainer – step aside, let her run.”

Moses, a current captain in the Sheriff’s Office, oversees the operations of Monterey County Jail. He started Election Day with a grande dark roast and breakfast sandwich at Starbucks before knocking on doors, before the rain kicked in. Even before the results came in, he spoke about a desire to partner post-election: “With Tina having no jail experience whatsoever, I think she’s going to need my expertise there, and I think we can work together.”