Vogel, Flora headed for November showdown

Two San Joaquin County Republicans – Ken Vogel and Heath Flora – are headed toward a November runoff in the hard-fought, increasingly nasty race for the 12th Assembly District, according to election night returns in Tuesday’s primary.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Vogel led with 25.5 percent of the vote, followed by Flora with 22.6 percent. Democrat Virginia Madueño was not far behind, with 21.9 percent, but would need a large number of provisional ballots – which have yet to be counted – to turn her way if she has any hope of making the November ballot.

Democrat Harinder Grewal was in fourth with 18.8 percent, with thousands of votes yet to count.

The top two vote-getters, regardless of party, will square off in November. Outgoing Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen did not endorse a candidate in the primary; she was termed out of the Legislature and ran unopposed for a Stanislaus County supervisor seat.

Flora and Vogel recently were at each other’s throats, fiercely vying for Republican votes in the conservative-leaning district covering eastern Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, including Turlock, Salida, Ripon, Manteca, Lathrop and part of Modesto. A third Republican candidate, Modesto’s Cindy Marks, stayed out of the fray but was lagging in the field of five, with 10.7 percent.

The Republican front-runners employed name-calling tactics in their mudfest. Vogel’s fliers referred to his opponent as “con artist liberal Heath Flora” and compared him to Hillary Clinton. Flora called Vogel a “double dipper” for his government pensions and “two faced” on high-speed rail, and said Vogel “dishonestly campaigns” and “wasted tax dollars” as a San Joaquin County supervisor.

Some of Flora’s attacks were bankrolled by independent expenditures, or funds controlled by outsiders as opposed to candidates or their official campaigns. As of last week, the California Alliance for Progress and Education and the California Real Estate Independent Expenditure Committee had spent more than $250,000 bashing Vogel or supporting Flora.

Earlier this year, Vogel got a judge to prevent Flora from saying he was a farmer on the official ballot, a move that Flora saw as a low blow.

Flora, who moved from Modesto only last year, led Vogel by 3 1/2 percentage points in Stanislaus County, and Madueño was running second in the Stanislaus tally. But Vogel was far stronger in his San Joaquin home base, outpacing Flora there by more than 11 percentage points.

Grewal sent a “report card” flier recounting difficulties when Madueño was Riverbank mayor. It featured the face of a pouting girl and concluded, “Virginia needs to stay in time out until she learns how to work with others.”

Madueño released a “history of violence” flier with a silhouette of a man striking a woman and quoting from a domestic violence charge Grewal faced before a jury acquitted him in 1997. The flier also claims Grewal “started a brawl at the Sikh temple.”

Grewal countered with a letter from his wife claiming, “Virginia Madueño is lying about my husband” and hoping Madueño would “cease her false negative campaigning.”

The 12th Assembly District is composed of about 42 percent registered Republican voters and 34 percent Democrats.

At 71 and 32, Vogel and Flora respectively were the oldest and youngest candidates in the race.

Vogel, of Stockton, raised far more money than the others: $211,500. The retired school principal raises cherries and walnuts and was the only military veteran among the five.

Flora was the only 12th Assembly District candidate never elected to public office.

Madueño, 50, was a one-term Riverbank mayor ousted in 2012. She had spent $162,500, the second-highest amount among the five candidates.

Grewal, 51, Keyes, leaned furthest to the left, supporting marijuana legalization, high-speed rail and universal health care. He was the only candidate to have run previously for Assembly, having lost to Olsen two years ago, and the only candidate who doesn’t own a small business.

Marks, 54, is the longest-serving Modesto City Schools board member, and raised the least amount of money among the five candidates: $35,500. All others spent at least $100,000.

Independent expenditures and money spent by the five candidates came to a total of $888,396.

This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 9:22 PM with the headline "Vogel, Flora headed for November showdown."