Election cliffhangers over: Winners declared in Oakdale, Empire

Winners declared in Empire, Oakdale

By Kevin Valine
kvaline@modbee.com

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The final results from the Nov. 3 election were released Monday, and a cliffhanger in Empire is over.

Patty Shafer beat Nick Bavaro by two votes for a seat on the Empire Union School District board of trustees. She had been trailing by one vote until Monday's final, certified results.

"I'll congratulate Patty," Bavaro said Monday evening. "She's been an excellent school board member. I'm a little disappointed in the voter turnout, but it was an off-year election."

Updated election results as for 11/16/09

Bavaro and Shafer were incumbents and among the four candidates vying for three spots on the school board. She received 1,054 votes to his 1,052.

The final election results also changed the outcome in a race for a seat on the Oakdale Irrigation District board, but did not change the outcome in any other race.

Turnout in Stanislaus County was 22.76 percent, with 47,587 of the county's 209,100 voters casting ballots in the Nov. 3 election.

Now that the election results have been certified, Riverbank will swear in its new mayor at its Nov. 23 council meeting at the Community Center. Former Councilwoman Virginia Madueño was the top vote-getter in a field of six, garnering nearly 41 percent of the vote.

San Joaquin County voters gave the victory to Herman Doornenbal in his race with Patricia Foard for the Oakdale Irrigation District's Division 2 directorship.

Foard had been leading Doornenbal, 295 votes to 291, among Stanislaus County voters. But he received 126 votes from San Joaquin County voters compared with Foard's 30. That gave Doornenbal 417 votes to Foard's 325.

The boundary of the Oakdale Irrigation District includes part of San Joaquin County. The two challengers were vying for a seat being vacated by an incumbent who did not run for re-election.

Bee staff writer Kevin Valine can be reached at kvaline@modbee.com or 578-2316.