California elections chief accused of threats, abuse while up for reelection

A Northern California elections official accused of threatening staff, creating a hostile workplace, and improperly mixing politics with his role is now asking voters to return him to office.

Shasta County registrar of voters Clint Curtis will oversee Tuesday’s election while simultaneously appearing on the ballot as a candidate, despite two investigations exposing his behavior in office, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

County records detailed accusations he routinely intimidated staff, made remarks about physical violence, and directed workers to carry out tasks they believed could violate election laws.

“Mr Curtis has demonstrated a clear pattern of unprofessional and abusive conduct toward staff,” county support services director Monica Fugitt wrote in one investigation.

She concluded the behavior amounted to “pervasive” abuse supported by “a significant volume of witness accounts.”

Fugitt recommended that county leaders publicly censure Curtis and limit his interactions with employees unless another person was present.

She further warned he had “created a hostile and abusive working environment” and suggested the county might need a workplace restraining order to protect staff from continued harassment.

Despite those findings, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted in April not to discipline Curtis ahead of the election.

Curtis, who earns more than $150,000 annually, argued he was the target of a coordinated effort by former deputy registrar Joanna Francescut, whom he fired and who is now challenging him for the job. 

“The old staff, there has been constant contact with Francescut,” Curtis said. “She even manages to get … into my internal messaging service.” 

The controversy is the latest chapter in the political upheaval that has transformed Shasta County in recent years.

Curtis, a longtime skeptic of electronic voting systems who was appointed to the position in 2025 despite never having administered an election, has repeatedly drawn headlines for clashes with reporters, support for election-fraud claims and other political disputes. 

One investigation found Curtis made campaign-related phone calls while at work and verbally harassed employees.

Another detailed complaints from workers who said he frequently joked about punching, slapping or even killing people who frustrated him.

Multiple witnesses reported hearing him threaten to “throat-punch” others. Curtis denied the allegations and insisted employees were attempting to undermine him.

“I can’t leave that place with the people that are there and expect that the election be held correctly,” he told supervisors. “They’re trying to sabotage it.” 

Some supervisors who opposed discipline cited the timing of the election, though they urged Curtis to stop making inflammatory remarks.

“Knock it off with those off-handed comments,” Supervisor Kevin W. Crye told him. “They’re not funny. They’re not funny.” 

Now voters in the deeply conservative Northern California county will decide whether the controversy surrounding their elections chief is reason enough to remove him from office.

Francescut entered the final weeks of the race with a significant fundraising advantage, having raised more than twice as much as Curtis, according to campaign filings.

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