MONTEREY COUNTY — Monterey County voters favored incumbents and rejected two local fire and emergency services parcel tax measures in Tuesday’s California primary election, according to semi-final official results released Wednesday by the county Elections Department.
With all 208 precincts reporting, 51,616 ballots were cast out of 218,662 registered voters in Monterey County, a turnout of 23.61%. Vote-by-mail ballots accounted for 47,270 votes, while 4,346 were cast at polling places. (Monterey County Elections’ next report will be released Friday.)
In the race for Monterey County Superintendent of Schools, Dan Burns led challenger Ralph Gómez Porras, 24,451 votes (57%) to 18,443 votes (43%). The seat will be filled in November following the retirement of Superintendent Deneen Guss at the end of the year.
In Monterey County Board of Supervisors races, incumbent Glenn Church led in District 2 with 5,752 votes (70.94%) over Ramon Gomez, who had 2,356 votes (29.06%). In District 3, incumbent Chris Lopez ran unopposed, receiving 4,485 votes.
State Assembly races under California’s top-two primary system showed incumbents leading in both contested districts. In District 29, Assemblymember Robert Rivas led with 26,871 votes (63.2%), followed by Dennis P. Sanchez with 8,494 votes (20%) and J.W. Paine with 7,156 votes (16.8%). In District 30, Assemblymember Dawn Addis led with 37,630 votes (53.1%), followed by Shannon Kessler with 26,953 votes (38.1%) and Susannah Brown with 6,251 votes (8.8%).
In U.S. House District 18, Rep. Zoe Lofgren led with 32,122 votes (52%) and advanced toward the November general election. Shane Lewis received 20,567 votes (33.3%), Luis Arreguín received 7,376 votes (11.9%), and Chris Demers received 1,660 votes (2.7%).
Lofgren issued a statement thanking voters and outlining her priorities.
“Thank you to the people of California’s 18th district for making your voice heard in today’s primary election,” Lofgren said. “I am honored to have your trust to continue fighting in Congress for our communities. Californians are demanding that Washington focus on pocketbook issues, not vanity projects and culture wars. As our campaign marches on to November, I will continue to speak out against the chaos we’re seeing from the Trump administration and the Republican majorities in Congress. I will also do everything I can to help Democrats win all of our state’s competitive seats and secure a House majority that will fight for everyday Americans. We have just five months to make our case and put this country back on the right track, and I’m ready to get it done.”
In California’s 19th Congressional District, Rep. Jimmy Panetta led with 64,596 votes (58.3%), followed by Peter Coe Verbica with 25,297 votes (22.8%), Sean Dougherty with 10,165 votes (9.2%), and additional candidates trailing in the field.
In the statewide race for governor, which featured more than 60 candidates, early results showed several leading vote-getters. Steve Hilton (Republican) led the field with 1,386,966 votes (27.8%), followed by Xavier Becerra (Democrat) with 1,267,070 votes (25.4%), Tom Steyer (Democrat) with 979,007 votes (19.6%), and Chad Bianco (Republican) with 566,679 votes (11.3%).
Two local parcel tax measures in South Monterey County fell short of the two-thirds threshold required for approval.
In Soledad, Measure A would authorize an annual parcel tax to fund fire and emergency medical services, including staffing, equipment, training and disaster preparedness. So far, it received 633 “yes” votes (48.32%) and 677 “no” votes (51.68%).
In Gonzales, Measure B would fund similar services, generating about $665,000 annually. It received 293 “yes” votes (47.26%) and 327 “no” votes (52.74%) as of Wednesday.
In Pacific Grove and Monterey, Measures C and D — relating to council compensation and a proposed sales tax for city services, respectively — were also failing in early returns.
Ballots will continue to be counted during the post-election canvass period. County elections officials must submit final certified results to the California Secretary of State by July 3. The Secretary of State is scheduled to certify statewide results on July 10.
For complete statewide results, visit dp.electionresults.sos.ca.gov.
