Fellow Lake County residents, you may have seen one of the five or more mailers sent by my opponent. He’s spending thousands upon thousands of dollars and using every political tactic in his bottomless bag of tricks to buy your vote. He’ll outspend me, for sure, but I’m banking he won’t outsmart voters.

Mailers are a common way for candidates seeking public office to reach voters. In Lake County, most candidates stick to the facts, relying on their experience and education to build trust between themselves and voters.

Sometimes, a candidate will go low — using deception, making outrageous promises they can’t keep, and making up claims about their opponents they can’t prove.

We need only see one of the many mailers my opponent has sent to voters to know he is such a candidate.

I’ve said in forums, in my own mailers, and in various media interviews that experience in criminal law is an absolute job requirement to effectively lead the District Attorney’s Office.

I’ve served in the District Attorney’s Office for 29 years, the last three years and a half as your district attorney.

In 2020 COVID-19 hit our courts hard, limiting and delaying the number of cases that could be brought to trial. Despite this circumstance, we continued to prosecute criminals and conduct jury trials.

This week alone two exceedingly difficult cases were concluded. One man who sexually assaulted and provided a teen with a controlled substance was sentenced to 16 years in prison. In another case, a drunken driver was convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter and will serve 10 years in prison.

Our small team of prosecutors work hard to bring criminals to justice — day in and day out — that’s the job.

Throughout the campaign, I’ve asked that you compare my record with my opponent. I’ve asked for your vote based on my experience. As one person recently put it, the focus of this election should be on the job at hand — not some manufactured version of it. I am asking you to consider this and the facts below as well.

Fact: I have literally prosecuted thousands of criminals; argued criminal cases in front of juries over a hundred times and put many violent criminals in prison for many years. My opponent has never taken one single criminal to jury trial or sent one criminal to prison. He has no criminal jury trial experience.

Fact: I have years of experience supervising prosecuting attorneys and mentoring and training entry level attorneys. My opponent has no experience supervising prosecuting attorneys.

Fact: The job of the district attorney is to prosecute criminal offenses for the public. I have dedicated my career to this job. My opponent has no such experience. He has never prosecuted anyone because he has never been a prosecutor. To be a prosecutor you are sworn in by the district attorney to uphold the U.S. and state constitutions. He has never taken that oath.

As you consider your voting choice for district attorney, you, the voters, hire the top prosecutor. Do you want to hire someone with 29 years of experience doing the job or do you want to hire a novice?

When the rubber meets the road, the only thing that matters is actual, relevant experience. No matter how much my opponent tries to convince you he has it or what political tactic he pulls out of his bag of tricks, he is not the best qualified person for the job and he cannot deliver on his promises.

Making laws, changing the constitution, funding the police, is the job of legislators — not the district attorney. He’s running for the wrong job, because being a politician is the only job he knows.

In closing I want to thank everyone who has spoken out in my support, given their endorsement and helped with my reelection campaign.

I am on the June 7 ballot for district attorney and I respectfully ask for your vote.

Susan Krones is seeking reelection as Lake County’s district attorney. She lives in Lakeport, California.