Former Merced prosecutor challenges Morse in campaign for district attorney

For the first time since taking office in 2006, Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II faces a challenger in his bid for re-election.

Kimberly Helms Lewis, a 47-year-old veteran attorney and prosecutor, has filed to run against Morse in the June 5 primary.

Helms Lewis said she believes Merced County residents are ready for a change after 12 years with Morse at the helm of the county prosecutor’s office.

“I’m not a politician,” Helms Lewis said. “I’m a career government attorney.”

Morse said he looks forward to the upcoming campaign and debate.

“The Merced County District Attorney’s Office is recognized as one of the most progressive and accomplished in California,” Morse said in an email. “I’m happy to let the voters compare my record as a trial attorney, administrator, and community and state leader on public safety with my opponent’s.”

The challenge comes just weeks after the Sun-Star reported allegations from three former Merced prosecutors who said Morse made sexual comments to female subordinates and inappropriately kissed a married employee.

Helms Lewis and Morse were co-workers for about a decade before Morse won election in 2006. Morse was a chief deputy district attorney during the time when Helms Lewis was with the Merced County District Attorney’s Office. She said the issues raised in the Sun-Star article published online Feb. 26 were “not surprising.”

Claims of sexual harassment against men in positions of power have brought about sweeping change across the country in what has become known as the #MeToo movement, which has opened the door for women to talk about their experiences with sexual harassment and assault in the workplace.

The movement has been an inspiration for Helms Lewis.

“It’s not just the #MeToo movement,” she said. “But in general, women are feeling like it’s time to stand up if they are unhappy with leadership and it’s time to take a stand.”

She said those issues were part of the reason she decided to run.

Helms Lewis said Morse did not make sexual comments directly to her.

Morse has acknowledged some of the problematic comments he’s made that were reported by the Sun-Star while saying he didn’t recall other allegations raised. Morse on Friday said he stands by “the letter written by 28 current and former women employees of the District Attorney’s Office. They know that story did not represent the culture or atmosphere in our office and they said so publicly.”

Helms Lewis said she’s also concerned about the relationship between the DA’s Office and the public defender. She said relations between management in the two offices soured about three years after Morse sent an expletive-filled voice message to Public Defender Dave Elgin.

After that message was shared publicly online, Helms Lewis said the chilly relationship possibly jeopardized cost-saving efforts between the two officials. The Sun-Star has obtained a copy of the voice mail posted here: (story continues below)

“I think the community feels like there needs to be change and a sense of integrity in the position,” Helms Lewis said, noting that her campaign slogan is “Tough, fair and honest.”

Morse said he’s “enjoyed an excellent working relationship with three public defenders and consider many members of that office to be friends.”

“In fact, several attended my re-election fundraiser two weeks ago,” Morse said Friday. “The people of Merced County care less about my relationship with this public defender (than) they care about safer communities. We are helping to (make) that happen.”

Morse touted his tenure as the county’s prosecutor, saying the murder rate in the region has been “cut in half in the last two years,” that gang violence has been reduced and his office is working with local agencies to cut down on agriculture-related crimes while also helping educators increase high-school graduation rates.

“There’s so much we’ve gotten done I’m excited to have the opportunity to share it,” Morse said.

If elected, Helms Lewis said she hopes to build better relationships between the District Attorney’s Office, Public Defender’s Office and law enforcement agencies.

Helms Lewis said she has practiced law for government agencies in Merced, Stanislaus and Modoc counties.

After working at the Merced County District Attorney’s Office for more than eight years, she spent 10 years with the Merced County counsel’s office until last year, when she joined the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor.

Helms Lewis is currently a deputy district attorney in Stanislaus County. She said she worked in the same position for Merced County between 1998 and 2007.

“I understand the needs and guts of how the office works,” Helms Lewis said. “I think I qualify with a variety of experiences. And I think I’m good for Merced.”

A Fresno native, Helms Lewis graduated from Hoover High School before completing her undergraduate studies at Principia College in Illinois and her law degree at Case Western Reserve University School of Law in 1996.

She has four children from her first marriage and three stepchildren. Last year she married her partner of eight years, Tom Lewis, who is a partner at a law firm in Merced. She lives in Merced.

This story was originally published March 16, 2018 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Former Merced prosecutor challenges Morse in campaign for district attorney."