June 7 election update
Election officials have updated their tallies this week. There have been no significant changes to the outcomes for the contests the Signal Tribune has been watching.
The media department of the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk released a statement last Tuesday describing the latest results of the canvassing process of the June 7 election. Its revised tally now includes some of the provisional and vote-by-mail ballots that were not yet counted.
“The total election results count is now at 1,706,798, which is 35.49 percent of eligible Los Angeles County voters,” the statement said of the overall county turnout.
Election officials acknowledged that they will continue the canvassing process, which involves tallying thousands of provisional and eligible vote-by mail ballots. The LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office reported that as of June 14, there are 259,582 outstanding unprocessed provisional ballots and 92,156 outstanding unprocessed vote-by-mail ballots.
Measures A and B
Long Beach’s two sales-tax measures still enjoy a substantial lead. Both measures need at least 50 percent plus 1 vote to pass. Measure A captured 44,108 votes, or 59.16 percent. Measure B won 42,193 votes, or 57.15 percent.
Under Measure A, the sales tax in Long Beach will be raised by 1 percent for the first six years then drop to one-half of a percent for the next four years. Currently, LA County’s sales-tax rate is 9 percent. If the sales-tax rates don’t change, shoppers in Long Beach will be paying 10 percent when the measure takes effect on Jan. 1, 2017.
Measure B, which establishes a rainy-day fund, is linked to Measure A. The first 1 percent of new tax revenue would be set aside in that fund to maintain city services and to balance the budget.
Medical-marijuana petition
As the Signal Tribune reported last week, a medical-marijuana-advocacy coalition reported that it submitted 35,000 signatures for a ballot measure to regulate dispensaries in Long Beach.
Currently, these businesses are banned in the city. Last week, the city clerk’s office began the process to validate the signatures, a necessary step before the measure could be placed on the ballot in November. The city council may also have an opportunity to pass the ordinance, as it is outlined in the petition, without the need to submit the initiative to voters.
This week, Long Beach City Clerk Maria de la Luz Garcia said that her office is still conducting a raw count of the signatures and will release an update of the process by Friday, June 17.
Other races to note
In light of the thousands of provisional and mail ballots that are left to be counted by the county offices, these totals only reflect the available tallies through Tuesday, June 14. For the races for congressional seats, state senate and state assembly, the top two candidates finishing in this primary will advance to a run-off election in November.
Time is running out for election officials to complete their counts. The LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk plans to certify the results on July 1, and the LA County Board of Supervisors are expected to officially declare the results on July 5, according to a statement from the county clerk’s office.
Measure LB
Long Beach Community College District’s Measure LB may have garnered enough votes. The school-improvement bond measure won 53,836 votes, or 63.1 percent. This measure only needs 55 percent of the votes to pass.
2nd District Councilmember
The race for the 2nd Council District is close, but if she is able to maintain her lead, Jeannine Pearce may be representing the 2nd District. Pearce captured 4,860 votes, or 51 percent. Opponent Eric Gray won 4,670 votes, or 49 percent. Gray said in a phone interview Wednesday that he called Pearce to congratulate her on June 14, but he is still waiting for all the votes to be tallied. The winner will need to capture 50 percent plus 1 vote.
LA County Supervisors, 4th District
According to the latest tally, Janice Hahn did not win the 50 percent plus one vote needed to outright claim the seat for the 4th District of the LA County Board of Supervisors. Hahn has 143,488 votes, or 47.17 percent. Steve Napolitano came in second, winning only 114,250, or 37.56 percent. Ralph Pacheco finished at a distant third place, capturing only 46,473 votes, or 15.28 percent. Hahn is set to face Napolitano in a run-off election in November.
U.S. Representative, 44th District
There were 10 contenders for the 44th District. Democrat Isadore Hall led the field of candidates, winning 35,216 votes, or 41.87 percent. Fellow Democrat Nanette Diaz Barragán finished in second place with 18,454 votes, or 21.94 percent. Armando Sotomayor, Ronald Siegel, Sylvia Ortiz, Martha Delgadillo, Christopher Castillo, Morris Griffin, Marcus Musante and Michael De Mauricio fell far behind the top two contenders. (See the graph for their totals.)
U.S. Representative, District 47
Democrat Alan Lowenthal enjoyed an easy lead over his opponents. According to the Secretary of State’s tally of the combined LA and Orange County precincts, Lowenthal won 77,953 votes, or 65.4 percent. Republican Andy Whallon finished in second place, capturing 26,781 votes, or 22.5 percent. Republican Sanford Kahn trailed in third place, winning only 14,372 votes, or 12.1 percent. Lowenthal and Whallon will face each other in a run-off election in November.
State Assemblymember, District 63
Democrat Anthony Rendon finished with 37,631 votes, or 77.56 percent. Republican Adam Joshua Miller finished second with 10,889 votes, or 22.44 percent.
State Assemblymember, District 70
Democrat incumbent Patrick O’Donnell was unopposed and won 57,997 votes, or 100 percent.
State Senator, District 33
Democrat Ricardo Lara was unopposed for his seat and won 84,152 votes or 100 percent.
State Senator, District 35
Democrat Steven Bradford won 44,303 votes, or 36.03 percent. Fellow Democrat Warren Furutani claimed second place with 29,933 votes, or 24.34 percent. Democrat Isaac Galvan finished in third place with 27,081 votes, or 22.03 percent. Republican Charlotte Ann Svolos finished last with 21,638 votes, or 17.6 percent. Bradford and Furutani will likely face each other in a run-off election in November.
