This CA Assembly District 15 Race Update is on June 8th, 2018, 3:34 pm pst. Note that time.
The hotly contested, 12 candidate race for the 2018 California Assembly District 15 Seat that was vacated by the now-new State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, is still technically undecided.
CA 15 is that because while political new-comer Buffy Wicks blew everyone away by outraising and outspending her challengers to win the most votes and be the top dog, there’s still a race within the race for second place between Richmond City Councilmember Jovanka Beckles and Oakland City Councilmember Dan Kalb.
In the California “top-two” primary system, only the two candidates with the most votes get picked regardless of party. But the vote difference between Beckles and Kalb at this point is razor thin, and even while Kalb has increased his lead, that was just with numbers reported by Alameda County, today, Friday, June 8th. But that’s not all of CA 15, and Contra Costa County, which includes Richmond, where Beckles is known, is part of it.
Guess what? We’re all still waiting for Contra Costa County’s update – it’s been two days and counting!
Right now, the webpage for CA 15 from Contra Costa County (https://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/state-assembly/district/15/county/contra-costa) shows that it was posted June 6th at 1:07 am (all times listed are pacific). Then, it was Beckles with 3,636 versus Kalb with 1,569 votes.
By contrast, Alameda County’s webpage for CA 15 was updated June 7, 2018, 5:54 pm. For Alameda County the tally was Beckles at 5,396 and Kalb at 7,767. Overall, the race between Beckles and Kalb is at 9,032 for Jovanka and 9,336 for Dan – a 304 vote lead for Councilmember Kalb. But, again, Contra Costa County’s last report was an update on June 6 at 1:07 am; it’s now Friday June 8th at 2:39 pm.
The certified tally of votes by the California Secretary of State’s Office is not expected until June 13th. The website of the SOS’s Office says “Election results are updated as often as new data is received from county elections offices after the polls close at 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. Many ballots are not counted on Election Day; county elections officials plan to complete their work by July 6, 2018”.
So we should see more voting reports before that day arrives.
Stay tuned.