Who is winning the Turlock races for mayor, City Council? Live results as they come in
In a crowded field for three seats on the Turlock City Council, some clear front-runners emerged in unofficial initial election results.
Turlock voters finished going to the polls Tuesday, picking among two candidates for mayor and six candidates to fill the Districts 1 and 3 seats on the council. Incumbent Mayor Amy Bublak, 57, faced off against former Councilman Gil Esquer, 72, in the city’s biggest race.
Early results posted after the polls closed at 8 p.m. include mostly mail-in ballots received before Election Day. The final winners could change once all of the same-day and later-arriving mail-in votes are tallied and official results announced.
Bublak, a retired Modesto police officer who is running for her second term, was leading Esquer, a mobile notary public who served one term on the City Council previously. After the same-day releases of early results, Bublak was leading Esquer 52.90% to 47.10%.
Bublak was first elected mayor in 2018, and before that served 10 years on the council. Esquer was elected to District 2 in 2016 but lost his reelection four years later to sitting Councilwoman Rebecka Monez.
Turlock City Council Districts 1 and 3 were vacated by incumbents Nicole Larson and Andrew Nosrati, respectively, who chose not to run for reelection. The six candidates on the ballot to replace them were all first-time candidates.
In District 1, physician assistant Kevin Bixel, 64, and real estate broker Chris Nichols, 42, squared off. In District 3, the candidates were Turlock optometrist Cassandra Abram, 33; real estate agent Kelly Higgins, 52; adviser Ramin Odisho, 53; and independent contractor/student Ryan Taylor, 20.
In District 1, Bixel was handily leading Nichols through the late-night Tuesday releases of unofficial results. Bixel continued his lead over Nichols 59.26% to 40.74% in mostly mail-in ballots and some same-day voting so far.
As the first results came in, Bixel said he was “cautiously optimistic,” but also warned it was “way to early, but happy for where we are right now!” in a text with The Bee.
In District 3, in a field of all political newcomers, Abram commanded nearly half the votes at 48.12%. The other candidates trailed at 32.22% Higgins, 13.95% Taylor and 5.71% Odisho.
“While there are still votes to count, we are very optimistic with the lead in early reporting,” Abram said via text on election night. “I am proud of what we accomplished in running a positive and thoughtful campaign. I’m extremely thankful for those who have trusted me with their vote.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 9:16 PM.
