Militia-aligned group will control a Northern California county if recall vote totals hold

After two years of threats and conspiracy theories, the militia-backed movement seeking to seize control of one of California’s most conservative counties, so far, appears to have prevailed — a major victory for far-right factions vying to replace more moderate Republican elected leaders across the state.

On Tuesday, Shasta County voters chose to recall Supervisor Leonard Moty, a Republican former Redding police chief, according to early election returns posted late Tuesday night.

With all precincts in Moty’s district reporting Tuesday night, nearly 53% of voters choose to remove him. Still, fewer than 400 votes separate the tally, and local election officials caution that the race remains too close to call.

But if the early vote totals hold, Moty’s ouster will tip the majority of the five-member board to a movement aligned with local militia members.

Moty’s replacement will be either Dale Ball, a local construction superintendent, or Tim Garman, president of a local school board. Ball had a lead of just 33 votes over Garman.

Both candidates were at the “victory” party Tuesday night with members of the local militia.

If it proves successful, the recall represents a major political victory for far-right factions in California as they seek to take power on local elected boards across the state.

Experts on extremism had been closely following the race out of concerns it could serve as a template that other far-right activists will follow.

This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 10:14 AM.