Most job seekers wait patiently to hear from the HR department. Running for office these days may seem similar – wait days and days for information. California still has about 1 million outstanding ballots.
So while we wait for final numbers, let’s take a look at what we know so far: most incumbents did fine and there were few surprises.
File this under weird, but not a surprise: Incumbent Board of Equalization Member and unusual individual Mike Schaefer is leading in District 4. He will face a challenger in November. Calpeek has previously discussed how the disbarred, convicted, and otherwise odd elected official was able to receive the California Democratic Party’s endorsement. We will wait and see if that endorsement holds through the CDP’s July Executive Board Meeting.
Statewide, we are still watching the final numbers in the Insurance Commissioner race. Although incumbent Ricardo Lara is safely in first place, it is unclear who he will face in November. Republican Robert Howell currently sits at 18.2% of the vote compared to Democrat Marc Levine’s 17.8% of the vote. Time will tell.
In Senate District 20, Caroline Menjivar has moved into second place with 27.7% while Daniel Hertzberg (son of incumbent Senator Bob Hertzberg) continues to hold the lead at 31.56%.
Although Robert Pullen-Miles continues to lead in the race for Assembly District 61 with 38.75% to Tina Simon McKinnor’s 30.99%, McKinnor leads in the special election for AD 62 with 51.65% to Pullen-Miles’ 48.35%.
In the solidly Democratic AD 64, a lone Republican, Raul Ortiz, leads the field that includes 5 Democrats. Democrat Blanca Pacheco is in second place with 25.48% of the vote. In the top-two General Election, it is safe to say that Pacheco will win.