County updates results in tight races for Modesto, Patterson councils, other offices
A tight race for a Modesto City Council seat got even tighter with updated vote counts released Friday night. And in Patterson, one council candidate nudged the other out of the lead.
The Stanislaus County Election Office issued its first update since the initial tallies on Tuesday night. They show two school bond measures still slightly short of passing, and a close contest in the Yosemite Community College District.
The county office counted 120,436 ballots as of Tuesday, about 60 percent of the total. Friday’s update brought the count to 169,588, out of roughly 200,000 total ballots.
It was an especially busy election, with contests for president and legislative seats, along with dozens of local offices. Highlights from Friday’s update:
Modesto council: Chris Ricci led Janice Keating for the District 3 seat by 107 votes, down from 141 on Tuesday. Jim Applegate was 531 votes behind Keating. Rosa Escutia-Braaton and David Wright maintained fairly solid leads for the other two council seats.
Modesto mayor: Sue Zwahlen and Doug Ridenour still appear headed for a February runoff. Zwahlen has 24.4% of the votes and Ridenour is at 19.6% in the eight-candidate field as of Friday. Kristi Ah You is third at 17.4% and Rick Countryman fourth at 17.1%.
Patterson council: Shivaugn Alves led Shawun Ruth Anderson for the District A seat by 48 votes Friday, after trailing by five Tuesday.
College board: Milton Richards led Bryan Rogers by 450 votes Friday for the Turlock-area seat on the YCCD board. The area includes a tiny slice of northern Merced County, where the candidates are tied at 69 in that county’s latest update.
County school board: Kimberly Spina led Tracie Anderson by 991 votes Friday in Area 3 of the Stanislaus County Board of Education. Anderson led narrowly in the first batch of returns Tuesday.
School bonds: The Salida and Waterford school districts remain just short of the 55 percent needed for bond measures for campus upgrades. Salida was at 54.68% and Waterford at 53.72% as of Friday night. Measures for the Stanislaus Union and Newman-Crows Landing districts still look to be winners.
This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 9:36 PM.
