Two Assembly incumbents hold strong leads, while third in closer race

Republican Kristin Olsen of Riverbank was easily defeating a challenger Tuesday in the race for her 12th Assembly District seat, while Democrat Adam Gray of Merced faced a tougher contest to keep his 21st Assembly District seat.

Republican incumbent Frank Bigelow was besting a Libertarian Party challenger in the 5th Assembly District, which spans Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Mariposa, Madera, Mono, Placer and Tuolumne counties.

In unofficial results from the California secretary of state’s website as of 9:53 p.m., Olsen had 67 percent of the vote compared with 33 percent for Democrat Harinder Grewal. The 12th Assembly District includes the east side of Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.

Gray had 51 percent of the vote compared with 49 percent for his Republican challenger, Jack Mobley of Merced. The 21st Assembly District includes half of Modesto and all of Ceres, Patterson, Newman and Merced County.

“Based on the last couple of vote counts, it’s trending in my direction, so I suspect that lead will continue to grow,” Gray said. “Almost $1million of money outside of the district has been spent attacking me and my character and not the issues.

“I’m honored that the voters have rejected that and supported what I’ve done in working together with Democrats and Republicans.”

In the 5th Assembly District race, Bigelow had received 75 percent of the vote compared with 25 percent for his Libertarian Party opponent, Patrick Hogan. Bigelow is a former member of the Madera County Board of Supervisors. Hogan is an Oakhurst Community College student.

Because of term limits, this will be Olsen’s third and final two-year term in the Assembly. She holds vice chair posts on the agriculture and education committees. She is expected to take a Republican leadership role in the statehouse and advocates more efficient government.

Olsen is a Modesto native and a former Modesto councilwoman and a former assistant vice president for communications and public affairs at California State University, Stanislaus. Grewal lives in Keyes and is a Stanislaus County agricultural inspector.

The two ran low-key campaigns that were devoid of personal attacks.

That was not the case in the Gray-Mobley election. The race has attracted $2million, with about two-thirds of that coming from outside sources. The race was considered the only competitive legislative contest in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

Democrats have complained to state ethics enforcers, suspecting that the influx of GOP independent expenditures violated a rule prohibiting coordination between outside contributors and a candidate, a charge denied by Mobley’s camp. Voters in the district also have been subjected to negative campaigning.

Gray, who is finishing his first two-year term, easily beat Mobley two years ago. Mobley lost two earlier campaigns against then-Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, who now is in the state Senate. Mobley followed a nontraditional path this time as a late write-in candidate for the June primary, which guaranteed his name would appear on Tuesday’s ballot.

This story was originally published November 4, 2014 at 10:17 PM with the headline "Two Assembly incumbents hold strong leads, while third in closer race."