Supervisor Ray Watson Denies Allegations Of Extortion

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Cliff Thompson lost the Kern County supervisor's race to incumbent Ray Watson and now one candidate is calling for a Grand Jury investigation over allegations of extortion.

Both candidates expected to win Tuesday night's 4th District supervisor race but incumbent Ray Watson ran away with the victory.

Now Thompson is crying foul. Thompson alleged in an e-mail he sent to ABC23 Wednesday afternoon that Watson told Mayor Harvey Hall if he didn't remove Mark Corum who is Hall Ambulance's media relations manager from Thompson's campaign, that Hall's ambulance contract would be in jeopardy.

Thompson called Watson's alleged move to dismiss Corum, extortion.

Wednesday afternoon, Watson called the allegations preposterous. He said he would never interfere with another person's campaign and did not interfere in this case. He said he never spoke to Hall or anyone connected to Hall about Corum or Thompson.

Watson said he was surprised by the allegation and doesn't believe it impacted the outcome of Tuesday's election. "The allegations, I believe, are totally unfounded,” said Watson.

Thompson will not comment beyond the e-mail and said he is still a bit under the weather. ABC23 also contacted Corum and Hall for comment. But they have not returned calls.

Thompson said he would be filing an immediate complaint with the Kern County Grand Jury. The grand jury said all complaints are kept confidential.