Election night brings surprises for candidates

While Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward won a convincing race as the incumbent, Assembly Member Devon Mathis is in a fight too close to call.

But the most surprising result of the evening was School Board President Eddie Valero’s victory for Tulare County Supervisor District 4 over the well-funded Dinuba Vice Mayor Kuldip Thusu. The final results came in at 56% of the vote for Valero, which means there will be no run off in November.

Valero becomes the first Hispanic elected to the Tulare County Board of Supervisors.

22nd Congressional District

It is the California primaries and the party for Andrew Janz’ foray into getting a congressional seat is lively. The atmosphere here is understandably boisterous, the feeling here is not if Janz will win but by how much. And that is the crux of the matter tonight, the percentage Janz will gain. The magic number being thrown around here is 35%. With that confident margin Janz can look confidently to the daunting task of taking on incumbent Devin Nunes come November. Because, as one voter put it, “Nunes is god king around here.” But with a strong enough voter turnout, Janz can turn what would seem an obvious rout into a real competition.

With the eyes of the nation locked on Nunes’ recent maneuvers they are focused on tonight’s primary as a litmus test on how the midterms will play out. And to Dave and his wife, Bev, they hope it plays out in Janz’ favor.

They both are part of a grassroots movement in Fresno called the Every Tuesday Vigil and they found Janz’ sincerity and determination completely simpatico with their own views. “More importantly, we wanted someone with a moral code!” exclaimed Dave while speaking at the podium. Explaining why this grassroots movement and others joined Janz in his campaign for the congressional seat of district 22.

Mr. Shelton, another of the supporters at the party, said “The biggest thing about Janz is that he is willing to listen about ecological issues, especially about water.” Shelton is a biologist and ecologist who works closely with Valley groundwater. “Nunes won’t even open an ear and they are real issues.”

Understandably so, as the economic backbone of the Valley is the agricultural sector and water is the lifeblood that pumps through it. “The damage we’ve done in aquifer subsidence, some of it is irreversible.” It turns out that parts of the Valley have sunk over 10 feet in the last century due to  shrinking aquifers from over dependence of ground water.

This among many other issues are what Janz hopes to bring to a debate with Nunes. “The voters in this district deserve a debate for whose vision is best for the central valley,” Janz answered after being asked what his next step is.

“This is a victory for immigration, this country was built off of immigrants and we should be proud of that,” expounded Janz during his speech. When asked how he plans on convincing Nunes to join a debate he answered with, “If you’ve been following our race you know we have been calling Nunes out and moving forward we will just have to keep poking and prodding.”

As it stands, Nunes walked away with 57.5% of the voters going for him. Which leaves Janz in a predicament, with 32.5% of the vote, allowing for a best case scenario where everyone who did not vote for either candidate joining Janz’ cause would still only leave him with 42.5%.

“Well, we all know that democratic showing during primaries are weak,” said Janz when confronted with this. “We are hoping to hit the pavement and reaching the rest of the democratic population.”

With the primary over Janz and his campaign look to November and they definitely have their work cut out for them.

Assembly District 26

With almost 94% of the vote counted, it was a nearly a three-way tie between Tulare Councilmember Jose Sigala, Visalia Mayor Warren Gubler, hovering at 29% and incumbent Devon Mathis pulling in 30%. Kern County cattle rancher Jack Lavers came in a distant fourth with 11.5%.

According to the Gubler Campaign, the final results may take up to 30 days. Provisional ballots still need to be counted and the registrars’ offices allow up to three days after the primary to receive ballots by mail. The final results may also end in a recount.

Tulare County District Attorney

On June 5, Tulare County District Attorney candidate Matt Darby held a results watch party at the Valley Oaks golf course in Visalia.

Darby arrived at the event at 6pm and had been meeting with supporters until the very end. He was very optimistic about his chances; after being asked if he was nervous by multiple supporters, his answer remained the same: he was looking forward to the results regardless of the outcome.

Two television screens were announcing the election results on the national, state, and local levels. The election results were coming in on the local news and on the Tulare County elections website.

One challenge presented to the group was that the Tulare County election website had crashed multiple times, to the dismay of everyone in the room. The room stayed quiet when the first results came in with Tim Ward, who was predicted to win, took an early lead in the results.

The room that was once filled with 50-plus people started to empty as the night went on.

Congressional District 21

Even with the threat of the “blue wave,” Congressman David Valadao form District 21 won the primary with his largest margin ever over challenger TJ Cox. Valadao sent out a statement saying,

“I am incredibly humbled to have received the support and confidence of so many voters from California’s Twenty-First District. As we head into November, we will continue focusing on the issues that impact our families most: creating jobs, strengthening the economy, and ensuring our children have the opportunity to pursue their dreams.”