Editor’s note: This article was updated at 11:00am 3/6/24 to update CD20 returns showing Boudreaux has taken over 2nd place.
Super Tuesday didn’t yield any surprises in the 2024 presidential race, but it generated a bit of suspense with a few razor thin margins in local races.
At Whitney’s Wild Oak Ranch in Exeter, Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, Tulare County Supervisor Larry Micari and Candidate for Congressional District 21 Michael Maher gathered Tuesday night with their supporters to watch the returns.
The first round of returns by the Tulare County Registrar of Voters showed clear wins for Micari and Tulare County Supervisor Pete Vander Poel.
Micari, the incumbent supervisor representing District 1, resoundingly beat challenger Joe Soria with 63.49% to Soria’s 36.5%.
Vander Poel was ahead with 78.82% to his challenger Benny Corona’s 21.18% as of midnight.
Boudreaux, a Republican running for Congressional District 20, is in a battle for second place against Democrat Marisa Wood. As of midnight Wood was ahead of Boudreaux by only 50 votes with 70% of the vote counted.
Fong was the front runner with 37.1% of the vote followed by Wood at 23.7% and Boudreaux at 23.6%. A clear second place winner most likely won’t be decided until at least the end of the week. In California’s top two primary, the second place winner moves on to the General Election.
But as of 3:00am on March 6 Boudreaux pulled ahead of Wood as the counties updated their results. Boudreaux has 24.9% to Wood’s 21.7%. Fong has received 38.7%
Fong has been criticized for running a mudslinging campaign against Boudreaux and for sending misleading mailers to Democrat households to raise Wood’s profile among liberal voters. The strategy seemed to have worked Tuesday night as Wood was eking out a slight victory for second – but that eroded as the night wore on.
With 76% of the vote counted in the Assembly District 33 race, it looks like two Republicans will be facing each other in the general election. Alexandra Macedo enjoyed a convincing lead with 42% to Xavier Avila’s 24.6%.
The two Democrats running trailed behind: Ruben Macareno received 15.8% and Angel Ruiz received 12.8%.
In one of the most contested congressional races in the country, Congressional District 22, incumbent Republican David Valadao came in first with 34% of the vote. He will face Democrat Rudy Salas who received 29%.
In Congressional District 21, it was an easy win for incumbent Jim Costa at 56.5% over Michael Maher who received 43.5%. Both candidates will proceed to the general election.
One of the surprises of Super Tuesday was Republican Senate Candidate Steve Garvey’s impressive performance.
Congressmember Adam Schiff received 37% of the vote. His Democrat challengers came in a distant third and fourth to Garvey, who will be proceeding to the General Election after receiving 29%.
Congress member Katie Porter received 14.7% and Barbara Lee received 7.4%. Both are Democrats.
Kings County Supervisor District 5 yielded the most surprising results of the evening. In an unusual twist in politics the long time incumbent, Richard Fagundes, came in last out of four candidates. With all precincts reporting Fagundes received 14.53%.
Robert Thayer came in first receiving 30.61%, a thin margin over the second runner up Adam Medeiros who received 29.02%. Tyler Pepe received 19.79%.
Election results are set to be certified on April 12.