Liveblogging the June Primary

Posted June 3rd, 2008 by robert

Morning Update 7:41am With all precincts reporting, Jane Parker has the lead in the 4th District with 4,364 to Ila's 4,075. We don't know how many late absentee and provisional votes there are to be counted, however.

Bill Monning has won the Democratic nomination in the 27th Assembly district by a wide margin - 51% to Emily Reilly's 24% and Barbara Sprenger's 22%. Congratulations to Bill Monning, who is likely to win the November election and be our next representative in the Assembly!

Some other local races: Pacific Grove's Measure U, a 1% sales tax increase, passed by a 2-1 margin. Tom Wills is likely to face Mark Hood in a runoff for the open Superior Court seat. As expected, the Denham recall did not pass, but it received its strongest support here in Monterey County, with nearly 40% of voters choosing to recall their state senator. In the 15th State Senate District, over 3,500 write-in votes have been cast, but we do not know how many were cast in Monterey County, nor do we know if they went to Dennis Morris, the Democrat, or Abel Maldonado, the Republican masquerading as a Democrat in the write-in vote (to block Morris). We hope to have final information for that and all other races soon.

Update 12:02am Votes continue to trickle in around AD-27, and Bill Monning maintains a sizeable lead with 52% to Emily Reilly's 24% and Barbara Sprenger's 20%. As with the District 4 race we are not likely to know the final results until the morning - and on that note, I'm out for the night. Thanks for reading!

Update 11:34pm The first new numbers in the District 4 Supervisor contest show an extremely close race, with Jane Parker trailing by just 146 votes, a 51-49% lead for Ila Mettee-McCutchon. This one's going to be another nailbiter.

In the 5th district Dave Potter has a 5,000 vote lead over Don Ask, for a percentage split of 73-27. 1st District Supervisor Fernando Armenta is running unopposed.

Update 11:03pm Some more votes in from Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties, but little change in the AD-27 numbers:

Monning 52% (12,129)
Reilly 22% (5,528)
Sprenger 21% (4,812)

Counting is happening slowly not only here on the Central Coast but around the state as well, particularly in Southern California. For statewide results and discussion, visit Calitics.

Update 10:15pm: Early results from Monterey County, based on 8,800 votes show Bill Monning with a significant lead here. Combined with the numbers posted at 9:01 (which haven't been updated by the counties) and with 20,542 votes tallied, here's how they stand:

Monning 52% (10,728)
Reilly 22% (4,565)
Sprenger 21% (4,382)

It must be cautioned that these are still early results, and they can certainly change. But it suggests Monning has a significant early lead.

Update 10:05pm: At the Ol' Factory Cafe here in Sand City at the Jane Parker party, lots of enthusiasm even though the earliest returns show Ila with the narrowest of leads, 52-48 percent based on around 5700 absentee votes. Parker is confident that her campaign's get out the vote efforts can produce a victory among election day voters, and as early absentees usually trend Republican, the close numbers are not a bad sign.

Update 9:01pm: Still awaiting Monterey County, but early absentees are in from Santa Cruz and Santa Clara on AD-27:

Santa Cruz: Bill Monning 44% (4,231), Emily Reilly 32% (3,086), Barbara Sprenger 22% (2,076)
Santa Clara: Barbara Sprenger 43% (887), Bill Monning 32% (658), Emily Reilly 22% (459)

These are early numbers and subject to change, of course.

Update 8:37pm: As we await the first results locally, early state results are coming in. Prop 98 is losing 43-57 and Prop 99 is passing 65-35. Prop 98 is the "bad" eminent domain proposal that would eliminate rent control and environmental protections, and Prop 99 is the "good" eminent domain reform that would provide fairer use of the practice. Monterey County Democrats endorsed "no" on 98 and "yes" on 99.

Monterey County Democrats are watching the election returns tonight at parties across the region including at our Monterey HQ (60 Bonifacio Plaza) - and we'll also be liveblogging the results as they come in. If you want to follow the results yourself, visit the Monterey County Elections site for local races, and the California Secretary of State for the ballot propositions and races around the state.

Of course the big news so far is Obama becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, as he has gained a majority of the delegates. One of the delegates who helped put him over the top was Sam Farr, who endorsed Obama earlier today:

Barack is an exciting new leader in American politics," Farr said in a press statement. "He will work to end the war in Iraq, he will tackle domestic issues that have been neglected for years and he will help repair our battered reputation abroad.

The general election awaits - but first the primaries. We'll be discussing the results as they come in.