Officials and longtime residents are concerned the damage to civic life will be permanent in Shasta and beyond
Get the news that matters to all Californians. Start every week informed.Election observers Susan Wilson, Susanne Baremore, and Tom Morehouse watch through a window as poll workers process ballots at theShasta County Elections office in Redding, California, on November 7, 2023. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMattersWhile elections may be the outrage du jour, officials and longtime residents in Shasta and beyond are concerned the damage to civic life will be permanent.
But she has received a steady stream of threats from a loud minority of Shasta County residents who falsely believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. She has been repeatedly accused in public meetings and on social media of engaging in both satanism and witchcraft. The most committed MAGA activists have circulated petitions accusing her of sedition and treason. She’s been followed walking to her car.
Tucked in the heavily forested northeastern reaches of California, Shasta County was named for Mount Shasta, a volcano known to erupt in bursts of activity followed by thousands of years of dormancy. The volcano has been quiet for generations.
“This community has been through so much,” she said. Elections just became what everyone was mad about after 2020, when national politics and local elected officials became obsessed with Trump’s claims he’d actually won the election. “That’s why the meetings are so bad.”Supervisors Patrick Henry Jones, left, and Supervisor Kevin Crye listen to public comments during the Shasta County Board of Supervisors meeting in Redding on April 2, 2024.
Justin Grimmer is a political scientist at Stanford University who monitors specific election conspiracy theorists and reaches out to the counties they engage with, offering rebuttal information. Shasta is one of many he’s visited and dozens he’s interacted with. But it stands out in his mind. While other counties may have talked about election integrity once or twice, Shasta has bogged down, pressing the issue in every supervisors meeting over nearly four years.
It’s hard for O’Connell to pin down exactly when things went too far, but she’s certain Jones should shoulder much of the blame. Darling Allen agrees. Even those who agree with his politics acknowledge he has done more than any other elected official to divide the county. For years, Jones has spent hours observing election processes in Darling Allen’s office. He spends much more time there than in his own office one floor up from the board’s chambers. If his constituents need some of his time, they know to skip that office altogether in favor of his family’s Redding gun store, Jones Fort.
Much of it had already been spent — hand counting requires significantly more space and different materials than the office had on hand. Returning the money would have meant laying off staff. Darling Allen’s heart rate began to race. That, she says, convinced her to retire. Back at the office, election staff were continuing to tabulate the results of the primary election from a few days before. The results wouldn’t be final for about two weeks, but it wasn’t looking good for Jones.
A recount performed in the recent election, he said, was error-filled. “They didn’t get it right,” he said. “I saw it with my own eyes.” Election fights mask Shasta’s larger problems Darling Allen isn’t immune: She’s raising her 6-year-old granddaughter, whose mother has battled drug addiction for years. Darling Allen is open about it — many local families have been broken apart by the county’s high addiction rate. Shasta County was home to some of the first settlers to California, who were drawn to the area during the Gold Rush. The area that now comprises the city of Redding, the county seat, was originally called Poverty Flats.
“Maybe I’ll put a marble in a jar for every speaker who follows the rules,” he said, laughing. “When the jar is full I’ll pay for a pizza party.” Francescut took over the reins from Darling Allen in December. She’s been working in the elections office since 2008, when she took an hourly job verifying signatures on ballot petitions. She’s worked her way up in the 16 years since.
Shasta County District One Supervisor Kevin W. Crye and District Three Supervisor Mary Rickert discuss the proper use of the Center for Tech and Civic Life grant in Redding on April 2, 2024. Photo by Cristian Gonzalez for CalMatters
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