Races for local offices remain mostly unchanged after the latest data dump by the Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters.
With 13,337 votes counted, an increase of 1,812 votes since Election Day, Turlock mayor Amy Bublak saw her lead over challenger Jim Reape shrink from 651 to 626 votes – less than half of 1 percent.
In the races for city council seats, District 1 incumbent Kevin Bixel saw his lead over Jeremy Rocha increase by 53 votes after an additional 387 votes were counted. Bixel now leads 2,147 to 1,481. Meanwhile, District 3 incumbent Cassandra Abram saw her 31-vote lead shrink to 28 – 1,918 to 1,890 – with 3,808 total votes tallied, an increase of 499 since Tuesday.
“The elections office continues to scan each vote-by-mail envelope to credit voters with casting a ballot and check the signature on each envelope against the signature located on each voter’s original affidavit of registration,” county registrar Donna Linder said in a press release. “Ballots are then sorted and prepared for count.”
Ballots that have a proper postmark (no later than Nov. 3) have until this Tuesday to trickle into the elections office and must be counted. Linder said that additional vote-by-mail ballots have been added to the Election Night vote count, bringing the total to 100,488 ballots that have been counted.
“(Thursday), a random 1 percent of the batches scanned were selected to be manually tallied and balanced against the computer counts to verify the accuracy of the election tally system,” Linder added. “This process is required by law. The office will begin work on the 1 percent hand tally of the vote next week.”
Elections Code 15301 requires canvass to be continued daily – Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays excepted – for not less than six hours each day until completed. Assembly Bill 827 requires ballot cures to be accepted until 22 days after the election and will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Nov. 25.
In other local races, Mary Jackson is headed for another term on the Turlock Unified School District board member from Area 4, garnering 73 percent of the vote against challenger Jayden Betbabanta.
Geoff Powers leads in the race for Hughson mayor with 626 votes. Sam Rush has 403 votes while embattled incumbent George Carr has 292 votes. Meanwhile, Julie Strain and Brian Evan secured spots on the Hughson city council.
In the race for two seats on the Denair Unified School District board, challenger Mike Baker leads with 883, followed by incumbent Kathi Dunham-Filson with 683. Challenger Gabby Cortes has 561 votes, and current board president Billy Myers has 497.
On the national level, Rep. Adam Gray (D-Merced), whose 13th Congressional District covers part of Turlock, declared victory over challenger Kevin Lincoln, the former Republican mayor of Stockton.
“Valley voters have once again placed their trust in me, and I don’t take that responsibility lightly,” said Gray, who has garnered more than 61 percent of the votes cast. “People here in the Valley want their leaders focused on what matters: lowering costs, reliable water, good-paying jobs, and affordable health care. They expect us to put people ahead of politics and work together to solve problems. … Now it’s time to get back to work.”
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-El Dorado Hills), whose 5th Congressional District covers the other half of Turlock, is also miles ahead of his opponent, Democrat Michael Masuda, with 55.7 percent of the vote.
"I want to begin by thanking the people of the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley for their support in a very difficult election cycle,” said McClintock, who was first elected to Congress in 2008. “Their continuing confidence is the greatest honor I could hope for, and I will do everything I can to be worthy of it.”
In the lone statewide race involving a local candidate, Assemblyman Juan Alanis (R-Modesto) ran unopposed and will return to Sacramento for a third term.
