Early returns from Oakdale, Riverbank, assembly favor mix of newcomers, incumbents
Polls have closed in Stanislaus County, showing early leads for candidates in a number of local races, from the Oakdale Irrigation District to two State Assembly Races.
Note: This story will be updated as more results are released.
Riverbank
Early returns show challenger Rachel Hernandez with a commanding lead for Riverbank’s District 2 City Council seat. Hernandez holds 69.3% of the votes, with all precincts reporting, over incumbent Cindy Fosi, who has 30.7%.
Fosi, who has served her district since 2016, has been on the city’s budget advisory board since its inception. She is currently an administrative analyst for the city of Modesto.
Hernandez, a Stanislaus County native and first-time candidate, ran on a platform of economic development and community investment. Hernandez told the Bee she aims to be proactive for underserved communities in Riverbank, and support sustainable growth in the city.
She added that she is looking to prioritize communication with developers and leaders on a state and federal level, “so that we’re able to be competitive as a city, especially because we’re a smaller city.”
On Tuesday night, Hernandez said seeing the preliminary results felt “validating” because of all the work she and her supporters put into the campaign. She added that she hopes the results show that races in “smaller cities matter in these elections. They affect us more directly.”
“We’re willing to work together and that we’re willing to connect with each other across whatever channel,” she said.
(See updated Stanislaus County results of all races)
Oakdale
Early results in the Oakdale City Council race show Fred Smith and incumbent Ericka Chiara in the lead and poised to fill the city’s two open seats. With all precincts reporting, Smith has received 26.7% of the vote, and Chiara is close behind with 26.5%.
Chiara was appointed in 2018 to fill the seat vacated by former council member Tom Dunlop. Candidates in Oakdale do not run by district; rather the top two vote-getters fill the two open council seats.
“Two years (as a council member) has given me a really good learning experience,” Chiara told The Bee earlier in the day. “It’s only going to help me going forward, with knowing how to ask the right questions.”
Smith and Chiara are leading the field by over 10 percentage points. In third place is Curtis Haney with 14.5%, followed by KC Nate with 12.7% and Marco Camacho Jr., who received 10.6% of the vote. Cecilia Suarez received the lowest number of votes, finishing the night with 9.1%.
Two Oakdale Irrigation District seats were up for reelection this year, with two candidates vying for each.
In District 1, early results show retired irrigation manager Ed Tobias with a commanding lead against non-profit CEO Donald “Duke” Cooper. With all precincts reporting, Tobias has garnered 59.5% of the vote, compared to Cooper’s 40.5%.
Both candidates told The Bee that they were proud of the “clean” race they had run, without any negative messaging between them.
District 4’s preliminary results put Linda Santos ahead of challenger Henry Dotinga, with all precincts reporting. Early returns have Santos in a comfortable lead of 53.4%, against Dotinga’s 46.6%.
Santos told The Bee in a Monday email that she feels that “Oakdale voters appreciate getting the opportunity to meet candidates directly.”
“They asked a lot of questions, shared their views and gave me encouragement,” she said. “Everyone understands the importance of protecting our region’s water.”
State Assembly District 12
With all precincts reporting in Stanislaus County, Assemblyman Heath Flora R-Ripon, is sitting in a comfortable lead against Democratic challenger Paul Akinjo.
Flora was first elected to the state assembly in 2016. The farmer and firefighter from Stanislaus County has received 58.2% of votes in his county, well ahead Akinjo’s 41.8%.
In San Joaquin County, Flora has a commanding lead of 63% over his opponent’s 37%, with all precincts reporting.
State Assembly District 21
Democratic incumbent Adam Gray D-Merced is in a comfortable 62.9% lead against challenger Joel Campos in Stanislaus County, where all precincts are reporting. Campos currently has 37.1% of the county’s votes.
Early results from Merced County also show Gray with a commanding lead. He has received 62.5% of votes, with all precincts reporting. As of Tuesday evening, Campos has 37.5% of votes in the county.
Stanislaus County Board of Education
In Area 3, with all precincts reporting, Kimberly Gerber Spina is now leading the race narrowly against her opponent, Tracie Anderson. Gerber Spina has 50.7% of the votes, putting her ahead of Anderson, who has 49.4% of the current votes. Earlier in the evening, Anderson was sporting a narrow lead in the race, but she now trails her opponent by a mere 282 votes.
In Area 4, with all precincts reporting, incumbent trustee Mary Ann Sanders holds a comfortable lead over challenger Edwin Lugo, safety environmental manager. With 66.8% of the votes, Sanders has a 34 point lead over her opponent, who has won 33.2% of the votes.
Stanislaus Union School District
Incumbent Susan Elliott is showing a commanding lead in her re-election bid for Area 2 of the Stanislaus Union School District board. Early returns show Elliott with 57.4% of Tuesday’s votes, ahead of challenger Lidia Banda, a retired school aide, with 42.6%
Turlock Unified School District
School administrator Jose M. Sanchez has eked out a narrow lead Area 1 of the Turlock Unified School District over appointed incumbent Miranda Chalabi and challenger Jamiee Leigh Ellison. Early returns show Sanchez with 43.1% of the vote, while Chalabi and Ellison have received 39.8% and 17% of the votes respectively.
In Area 5, initial returns show incumbent Frank M. Lima in a narrow lead with 38.2% of votes, ahead of challengers Daniel Benedict and Grady L. Welch. With all precincts reporting, PTA secretary Benedict is sitting at a close second with 36.1% of the votes. Welch, a law enforcement officer, has received 25.7% of the votes cast.
Stanislaus County Judge
In the race for a seat on the Stanislaus County judicial bench, prosecutor John R. Mayne was leading Stanislaus Superior Court Commissioner Kenneth Hara Tuesday night.
Mayne had 56.1% of the vote to Hara’s 44% in early returns. The two had been among three candidates for the seat in the March primary; the race went to a runoff.
This story was produced with financial support from the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
To help fund The Bee’s economic development and children’s health reporters with Report for America, go to https://bit.ly/ModestoBeeRFA
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 9:25 PM.
