California election winners and losers: Gavin Newsom cruised. Scott Jones stumbled
California’s Primary Tuesday is over. With sights set on November, candidates had a few brief moments to celebrate or ponder what went wrong, before regrouping and racing toward the general election, now just 150 days away.
Winners — and losers — emerged quickly across California and the Sacramento region on a low-turnout Election Day. Here are a few from Tuesday night.
WINNER
Gavin Newsom — again. Less than a year after California voters resoundingly rejected September’s $200 million all-comers recall effort to replace the governor, Newsom took home 56% of the vote on Tuesday night. He will face Republican state Sen. Brian Dahle in November.
LOSERS
Sacramento stalwarts seeking higher office.
Whether Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s independent bid to become California’s next attorney general or conservative Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones’ run at Congress, the county’s top two law enforcement officers’ law-and-order campaigns struggled to a rough night at the polls.
WINNER
Another Jones — Placer County Democrat Kermit Jones, who glided past the Sacramento County lawman to the top of the 3rd Congressional District race with 39% of the vote and will face Trump-endorsed Republican Rocklin Assemblyman Kevin Kiley in November, in a contest that could in some ways test Placer’s reputation as a reliably red enclave.
WINNER
Thien Ho, Sacramento County Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney, with his history-making election win to become Sacramento County’s first Asian American district attorney and the first person of color to ever lead the office. One of the prosecutors hand-picked to put away Golden State Killer and East Area Rapist Joseph DeAngelo, Ho held a strong lead over progressive attorney and former Sacramento County prosecutor Alana Mathews in a race that hinged on public safety in the wake of two mass shootings and spikes in violent crime.
“The community has spoken,” Ho said Tuesday night. “They want an experienced prosecutor.”
LOSER
Davis developers.
Voters were on track to reject Davis Measure H, the plan to annex more than 100 acres on Davis’ east side for a planned “innovation center” of research space, offices, housing and retail near Mace Boulevard and Interstate 80.
Advocates for the Davis Innovation and Sustainability Campus, as it would be called, said the 102-acre development on agricultural land would draw ag and tech firms to Davis and keep more UC Davis graduates in the city. Developers offered a smaller footprint — trimming housing and commercial space — but Davis voters, historically finicky on development issues and deeply concerned about traffic congestion on an already-clogged I-80 corridor, weren’t convinced.
WINNER
The teacher who just may find herself in a November contest with incumbent Tony Thurmond to become California’s next superintendent of public instruction. She’s San Francisco public school teacher and administrator Ainye Long. In an Instagram message from her car Wednesday, she sounded as surprised as any next-to-impossible longshot with no war chest running for state office against a well-funded incumbent would be expected to be.
“It’s still early,” Long said, “but we’re officially in second place. It’s still early, though, so keep it coming. Keep it coming.”
Long’s bare-bones campaign earned her 11.7% of the vote. That’s enough, so far, for a showdown with Thurmond who, despite endorsements from the California Democratic Party and the powerful California Teachers Association, and despite raising $1.5 million in campaign cash, managed about 46% of the vote as of Wednesday.
WINNERS
Elk Grove-based candidates.
Elk Grove had a big night Tuesday, supplying front runners in races for sheriff, U.S. Congress, state Assembly and county supervisor as polls closed Tuesday.
Elk Grove assemblyman and 30-year Sheriff’s veteran Jim Cooper was poised to make history as Sacramento County’s first Black sheriff as he held a commanding lead over Sacramento County Undersheriff Jim Barnes.
In the state’s 10th Assembly District, Elk Grove councilwoman and non-profit executive director Stephanie Nguyen was leading candidate and Sacramento City Councilman Eric Guerra in a chippy, hard-fought race headed to November.
County supervisor candidates longtime Elk Grove councilman Pat Hume and Elk Grove-based Cosumnes Community Services District Director Jaclyn Moreno finished one-two and will battle in November for the open seat in south Sacramento County’s fifth district.
And, Rep. Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, comfortably led a list of mostly Republican challengers for his 6th Congressional District seat.
LOSER
Voter turnout.
Turnout was a dismal 18% statewide as of Friday afternoon, according to the California Secretary of State’s Office; just 20% in Sacramento County. San Joaquin County poll workers could’ve taken the night off.
Just 6% of San Joaquin County voters cast their ballots.
Placer County turnout was 14%. El Dorado and Yolo counties’ turnout was robust in comparison at 26% and 23% respectively.
This story was originally published June 12, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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