Leads change in close Sacramento County elections, from Folsom to Sac City Unified

One week after Election Day, results from Sacramento County show that there are some tight races across the region.

Anna Rohrbough, a newcomer who previously served as city council member in Washington state, leads incumbent Kerri Howell in the race for the City Council’s 5th District seat by just 29 votes as of Tuesday afternoon. Howell led as recently as Tuesday morning.

Rohrbough holds the lead with 1,647 votes to Howell’s 1,618.

The former Folsom mayor faced concerns of being removed from the ballot when she disclosed that incumbent Councilman Mike Kozlowski’s had collected signatures for her reelection campaign in a potential violation of state election law.

A judge ruled four days before the election that Howell could stay on the ballot, but if she wins a voter could file a legal action to challenge her election, the ruling read.

Galt City Council

The Galt City Council race has five candidates running against each other and the top three candidates to receive the most votes become council members, according to Sacramento County.

Incumbent Vice Mayor Paul Sandhu and Mayor Shawn Farmer are comfortably leading, but only five votes separate incumbent Rich Lozano and his challenger Tom Silva, president of the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District’s Board of Education.

Silva leads with 1,564 votes while Lozano trails with 1,559, according to the county.

Other close races

In a race for Citrus Heights City Council District 5, incumbent and Mayor Porsche Middleton leads challenger Natalee Price by just nine votes, 1,212-1,203.

For Isleton City Council, David Kent and Aleida Suarez are tied at 50 votes.

For the Sacramento City Unified School District board of education, challenger Jasjit Singh has pulled ahead of incumbent Leticia Garcia by 196 votes, 4,858-4,662.

The top-three rule also applies to the Dry Creek School District board of trustees where challenger Jean Pagnone has pulled ahead of incumbent Tracy Pittman 2,358-1,877.

For Rocklin City Council, Matthew Oliver leads 5,318 to David Bass’s 5,278.

After trailing by a single vote earlier Tuesday, challenger Mark Matus has begun to pull away from incumbent Inez Reyes for the Cordova Recreation and Parks District 2 seat. Matus currently leads 2,491 to 2,364.

Rocklin Unified School District also applies the top-three rule, and incumbents Dereck Counter and Rick Miller find themselves one vote apart in a race against each other — 4,599 to 4,598.

The top-three vote for South Lake Tahoe City Council sees incumbent Tamara Wallace 23 votes ahead of challenger David Jinkens, 1,412-1,389.

This story was originally published November 15, 2022 at 5:41 PM.