Karen Quincy Loberg / Star staff Supervisor Kathy Long, right, and Port Hueneme Mayor Tony Volante meet with Megan Brasher and her daughter Whitney during a recent neighborhood walk.

Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long is off to Sacramento tonight to meet with leaders from other counties and lobby lawmakers for help in keeping state funding for healthcare, welfare and law enforcement programs.

The message, Long said, will be, "Don't steal from the county; don't make the county into your bank account."

In her 12 years in office, Long has established herself as Ventura County's go-to supervisor when it comes to lobbying and legislation at the state level.

She serves on the executive committee of the California State Association of Counties, and she estimates that she spends a day or two in Sacramento every month.

Long will be up for re-election June 3, facing Socorro Lopez Hanson, a school board trustee and executive of a nonprofit group. Long lives in Camarillo and represents the 3rd District, which

consists of Camarillo, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Piru and Port Hueneme.

Long is Ventura County's second-longest-serving supervisor, after 32-year Supervisor John Flynn. And she thinks that she's just hitting her stride.

"I think I'm much more effective than I was just five years ago," she said.

Politically at least, it may be true. Her three election wins have all come against Camarillo Councilman Mike Morgan. The first two were close, but in 2004, Long won with nearly 60 percent of the vote.

This time, Morgan is supporting Long. He said there are no hard feelings from the earlier campaigns, and he thinks that her experience is crucial now that the county is facing a likely future of deep cuts in state funding.

"With this budget issue, it's not time to change right now," Morgan said. "She's become kind of a journeyman supervisor. She's entrenched; she knows where everything is."

No opposition from deputies

Long's 2004 victory came despite opposition from the Ventura County Deputy Sheriff's Association, a union with one of the best-funded campaign committees in the county. In 2002 and 2004, it spent more than $126,000 on unsuccessful challengers to four different incumbent supervisors, including Long.

This year, the union has been quiet. Sheriff's Sgt. Matt Findlay, union president, said the group has decided to stay out of the June 3 primary, although it might campaign in the November general election.

"We've been burned in the past," Findlay said.

That's not the only reason, though. Findlay said his union is on much better terms with Long and the other incumbents than in 2004. Since then, the board has settled its dispute with the sheriff and district attorney over the county's public safety funding formula, sheriff's deputies signed a contract with significant raises, and the department has been hiring again after losing deputies for a few years.

"The rapport (with the supervisors) has gotten much better," Findlay said. "We're meeting and greeting and doing much more talking. Maybe both sides understand the responsibilities that each side has a little better."

Long said she's proud of helping the board repair its relationship with law enforcement while keeping a lid on spending.

She's also the Board of Supervisors' point person on its anti-methamphetamine efforts, and on the county's "10-year strategy to end homelessness." Ending homelessness is a big goal, and Long said the idea is to develop a network of year-round shelters and services, along with permanent housing, so someone who becomes homeless can get off the streets quickly.

Worked for former supervisor

Long, 57, was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Ventura County in 1981. She owned a pest control business with her husband until she went to work for then-Supervisor Maggie Kildee.

Long was Kildee's chief of staff until 1996, when Kildee retired and Long was elected to the seat. She said she thinks that her reputation for lobbying acumen and attention to policy detail is inherited from her former boss.

"I stepped into that role, working in Sacramento, from Maggie Kildee," Long said. "That was something she really cared deeply about."

In her current race against Lopez Hanson, Long holds a tremendous fundraising advantage. She has about $58,000 in the bank, and a month ago, when the last disclosure statements were filed, Lopez Hanson had yet to raise her first $1,000.

If she wins June 3, Long might find the end of her tenure on the horizon. In November, county voters will decide whether to limit supervisors to three terms, and if Long is re-elected, she would be starting her fourth. The law wouldn't force incumbent supervisors to leave until 2020, but Long said she might consider retiring sooner if the measure passes.

"I take this four years at a time, but if there is voter support for term limits at the local level, I would take that as a serious sign," she said.