Butte County primary results certified
Voter turnout higher than state
The 2024 primary election has finally come to a close in Butte County.
Registrar of Voters Keaton Denlay announced before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that the final results were in, at which point he asked the board to certify them. During the discussion, Denlay noted that the turnout was about average for Butte County.
“We did have 46.64% turnout, which outpaces the state,” Denlay said. “So that's pretty good. It kind of lands in the middle ground for where our primaries are in the past but still well outpacing the state average.
“So congratulations to our voters for getting their voices out there and heard. I also want to thank our election workers, our community partners and the Butte County Sheriff's STARS program. We couldn't do it without them, so we appreciate all their help.”
The board unanimously approved the results.
Supervisor Tod Kimmelshue, current chair of the board, defeated his opponent, Joanna Warrens, 6,704 (67.07%) to 3,291 (32.93%). District 5 also saw a victory for the incumbent, Doug Teeter, who beat Julie Threet 9,084 (72.31%) to 3,479 (27.69%). Bill Connelly received 100% of the vote in District 1 as there was no challenger in the race.
The Valley's Edge Specific Plan, slated for 1,447 acres in southeast Chico, was effectively struck down by voters via measures O and P. Measure O lost with 15,843 votes (62.73%) against it and only 9,414 (37.27%) in favor of it. Measure P lost by a similar landslide with 15,750 (62.19%) voting it down and 9,414 (37.81%) showing support.
Proposition 1, a ballot item that would redirect how local behavioral health departments can allocate funding, wasn't particularly popular in Butte County with 30,330 voters (56.33%) opposing it and only 23,516 voters (43.67%) backing it. Statewide, however, the gap is much narrower with 3,628,366 (50.2%) voting in favor of the proposition and 3,600,681 (49.8%) voting no. It should be noted that state results have yet to be certified and remain unofficial.
Beyond Butte
For California's First Congressional District, incumbent Doug LaMalfa was the clear favorite in Butte County and the district as a whole. Locally, LaMalfa captured 30,187 votes (55.81%) followed by Rose Penelope Yee with 16,844 votes (31.14%) and Mike Doran with 7,062 votes
(13.06%). LaMalfa had an even bigger margin districtwide with 122,301 votes (66.7%) with Yee only garnering 41,527 votes (22.6%) and Doran with 19,656 votes (10.7%).
LaMalfa and Yee will meet in November after the primary narrowed the field to two.
Assemblywoman Megan
Dahle enters November with momentum against fellow Republican David Fennell for the state Senate First District race in both Butte County and the district. Butte County numbers favored Dahle, who received 30,553 local votes (76.72%) to Fennell's 9,272 (24.28%). The total district numbers almost mirrored the local ones, with Dahle getting 153,635 votes (77.2%) and Fennell getting 45,442 (22.8%).
For California's Third Assembly District, incumbent James Gallagher got 32,656 Butte County votes (60.78%) against Aaron Draper, who received 21,068 (39.22%). Districtwide, Gallagher managed 76,487 votes (68.4%) against Draper's 35,413 (31.6%).
In the race for United States Senator, Butte County heavily leaned toward Republican Steve Garvey, who took 21,462 county votes (40.91%), with Democtatic Congressman Adam Schiff receiving 13,606 votes (25.94%) and the remaining votes going to other candidates including Democratic Congresswomen Katie Porter and Barbara Lee. Schiff is holding the lead slightly statewide with 2,300,866 votes (31.6%) followed by Garvey at 2,294,822 (31.5%); they advanced to the general election.