The race for Yola County Attorney’s Office is raging with the participation of incumbent District Attorney Jeff Reisig and former Public Defender Cynthia Rodriguez.

Jeff Reisig has been the Attorney General of Yola County for 16 years. He said violent crime had risen sharply during the pandemic and wanted to remain in office to keep society safe.

Candidate Cynthia Rodriguez said the incumbent had done well – and it was time to change that.

Since the vote is already going through ballot papers by mail, Reisig said he was busy communicating his message to Yola County voters.

He said that in the event of re-election, he would focus on three main priorities: reducing crime, combating homelessness and implementing innovative programs to improve justice in the justice system.

Yola County resident and mother of four Cynthia Rodriguez said she has 40 years of legal experience.

If elected, she said she would prefer public safety, uphold equal justice and end the mass imprisonment of colored people.

Reisig said she never sued.

“Honestly, I think it would be a disaster for Yola County to have a Attorney General who has never prosecuted a single case in her life. This is a problem. These are complex cases that often involve serious bodily injury or death, and we have received many crimes, unfortunately, ”Reisig said.

“Seven thousand cases a year come to Yola County. I am dealing with this time with my deputies, and only because I have 30 years of experience, 25 years as a prosecutor, can I bring these cases to a successful conclusion.”

Rodriguez said she believed she had experience, and called Reisig’s statement a “tactic of intimidation.”

“I think it’s a tactic of intimidation to make it look like I’m going to walk in the woods like a baby. Forty years, judges across the state, state federal court, I handled these cases when he was a junior. High, so I have experience, ”Rodriguez said.

“It’s an experience that allows me to come to this office and say we need to do a lot of things to make it safer.”

Her sentence is also being called into question after she received campaign contributions from the families of two children convicted of wrongdoing.

“Honestly, it infuriated me. When you run for the prosecutor’s office for the position of chief law enforcement officer, you do not take money from the interpreters of children or members of their families. She never apologized for it. . She admitted it. She admitted to taking the money, and that’s just wrong. And I said it from the beginning that people need to take that into account because it honestly shows where it comes from, ”Reisig said.

In response to the controversy, Rodriguez said she accepted the money but eventually donated it to charity.

“I get money from almost 700 people. I think at the moment I don’t see all the money and I don’t know everyone who contributed, so when we were told it was a problem with someone, we took that money and gave it to Empower Yolo, a charity that helps women and children. It was the best thing I could do, ”Rodriguez said.

“I deliberately did not take money from anyone. I took the money that people offered me, and I had no reason to suspect that it would work out. “

The race is non-partisan, and both candidates are urging residents to conduct a survey and go out to vote.

Ballots must be sent to the postmark by June 7.