While some local races are already decided, thousands of ballots have yet to be counted in Stanislaus County following Tuesday’s Presidential Primary Election.
On Election Day, the Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters reported 55,731 ballots both voted at the polls and vote by mail ballots received and processed the week before the election. As of Friday night, the Elections office had scanned over 14,000 additional vote-by-mail ballots with approximately 38,000 left to be processed.
While there are still plenty of votes to be tallied in Stanislaus County, the race to see which Congressional District 10 candidates will move on to the general election was decided early on. It will be Democratic Congressman Josh Harder and Republican candidate Ted Howze on the ballot in November, after the incumbent nabbed 39.8 percent of the vote (29,683 votes) and his challenger received 37.5 percent of the vote (27,987 votes) as of Friday night.
Behind the two primary winners were Republicans Bob Elliott (14.2 percent) and Marla Sousa Livengood (3.4 percent), followed by Democrats Mike Barkley (3.1 percent) and Ryan Blevins (2 percent).
“It’s my honor to once again earn the support of my friends and neighbors here in the Valley,” Harder said in a statement. “I will continue fighting for the Valley by lowering health care costs, protecting our water and bringing good-paying jobs to the Valley.”
In a statement of his own, former Turlock City Councilman Howze thanked Republican, Independent and Democrat voters he said supported him throughout his campaign.
“Our top-two finish was a team effort, with countless people tired of the special interest-dominated politics in Congress coming together and waging a positive campaign,” Howze said. “…I want to thank everyone who has supported me to this point, your effort and hard work has been inspiring, but this is just the first step. Moving forward to November, we welcome everyone who wants to see positive change and are ready to give the D.C. political class a swift kick in the...well, you know.”
The Elliott and Barkley campaigns were unable to be reached by the time of publication, though Livengood and Blevins shared their thoughts on the election on their social media pages.
“Thank you for your support during the campaign. I am proud of our focus on returning our values of strong faith in God, family devotion and hard work back to Washington,” Livengood said. “While the election didn’t go our way, I am grateful to everyone who supported me this past year. Thank you.”
“Thank you to the 1,500 people who voted for me last night,” Blevins said. “We may have only got 2.04 percent, but we started a movement!”
District 12 Assemblyman Heath Flora, a Republican, received a strong showing of support on Tuesday with 66.9 percent (36,371 votes) of the votes cast in his favor over Democratic challenger Paul Akinjo. Akinjo, a Lathrop City Councilmember, received 33.1 percent of the vote (17,958 votes). Still, the pair will face off again in November.
Turlock voters also had a say in deciding three new Stanislaus County Superior Court Judges. There was a three-way race for Superior Court Office No. 5 between Deputy District Attorney John R. Mayne, retired prosecutor Jared Carillo and Superior Court Commissioner Kenneth Hara, and another between Chief Deputy District Attorney Annette Rees, attorney Daniel Johnson and former Deputy District Attorney Samual Getrich for Office No. 6.
As of Friday night, it looked like Mayne could be headed toward a November runoff against one of his opponents after he collected 49.11 percent of the vote (24,137 votes). The two top candidates move on to November, unless a candidate receives 50 percent or more of the vote. Currently, Hara holds 25.9 percent of the vote (12,730 votes) while Carillo received 24.98 percent (12,278 votes).
“It was a really good night last night… I expect that it will be another week or so until we are certain of the results,” Mayne said on Facebook Wednesday following early results. “…take those yard signs down — but don't throw them away! Put 'em back up in the summer!”
Rees claimed victory in her race, securing 74.01 percent of the vote (36,197 votes), while Getrich received 25.99 percent of the vote (12,708 votes).
“Thank you everyone. We obviously fell short,” Getrich posted to social media. “Congratulations to Ms. Rees and I wish her well during her tenure on the bench.”
In the race for Superior Court Office No. 2, two candidates with Turlock ties went head-to-head: Jeff Mangar and Colleen Van Edgmond. Mangar is a former Turlock resident and has family here, while Van Edgmond lives on the outskirts of town and has children who attend Turlock schools.
The race ultimately saw Mangar win the seat, earning 57.41 percent of the vote (29,266 votes).
“I sincerely thank everyone who helped out and supported me throughout this campaign. I have always been committed to serving the people of Stanislaus County and look forward to continuing my service as a Superior Court judge,” Mangar said in a statement.
Van Edgmond received 42.59 percent of the vote (21,707 votes).
“Thank you to all my family, friends and supporters for your hard work, ongoing support and votes of confidence. I truly appreciate the hard work, honesty and professionalism of all who helped,” she said. “While we fell short on votes, there are always more ways to positively serve our community and I look forward to those opportunities. I wish Mr. Mangar all the best on the bench.”
The canvass of remaining ballots by the County Elections office will continue until complete, and California law requires certification of the election to be on or before April 2. To stay up to date with election totals, visit www.stanvote.com.
