Washington and Roth take early leads for supervisor
Riverside County Supervisor Chuck Washington is on track to win reelection and avoid a November runoff, the latest primary results show.
In the other Board of Supervisors race on the Tuesday primary ballot, termlimited state Sen. Richard Roth and former Democratic assemblymember Jose Medina remained in first and second, respectively. Community activist Debbie Walsh moved into third place ahead of Western Municipal Water District board member Gracie Torres.
“We are very encouraged by the early returns,” Jaycob Bytel, a Roth spokesperson, said via email. “Every vote counts and we are committed to giving our elected officials the time needed to count every ballot.”
Medina said via email that he was “grateful for the outpouring of support, and I am closely watching the results.”
“I am optimistic that once all votes are counted, Riverside County residents will make their voices heard in support of our campaign to tackle our homelessness crisis, increase educational opportunities, and hold the sheriff accountable,” he added.
As of early Wednesday morning, Washington had 54.61% of the vote in the race for the District 3 seat. Former Murrieta mayor Jonathan Ingram was second with 25.35% while 2022 Republican state treasurer candidate Jack Guerrero was last with 20.03%.
If that margin holds, Washington would retain his seat outright because he got a simple majority of the vote. If he falls below 50%, he’d advance to the Nov. 5 general election with the second-place finisher, assuming he stays in first.
About 180,000 vote-bymail and 3,200 provisional ballots remained to be counted going into Wednesday. The Riverside County Registrar of Voters plans to post updated results at 6 p.m.
In the 3rd District, which takes in Aguanga, Anza, De Luz, East Hemet, French Valley, Green Acres, Homeland, La Cresta, Lake Riverside, Menifee, Murrieta, Sage, Temecula, Wildomar, Winchester and part of Valle Vista, Washington sought to become the senior-most supervisor on the board once Jeffries’ term ends.
Guerrero said his accounting and finance background allows him to address what he described as serious problems with the county budget, including a pension debt that’s much higher than current estimates and spiraling costs.
Ingram, a past county Republican Party chairman, campaigned on promising to focus on creating quality local jobs, reducing traffic congestion and creating “innovative strategies” to deal with crime, mental illness and homelessness.
A former Murrieta and Temecula mayor, Washington, who has been a supervisor since 2015, said his experience gave him the edge over his opponents and that unlike them, he would not need on-the-job training.
If reelected, he promised to work on reducing social worker caseloads and delays in offloading patients at hospitals that keep ambulances from going back into service.
The 1st District seat, which covers Good Hope, Highgrove, March Air Reserve Base, Mead Valley, Meadowbrook, Perris, Riverside and part of Jurupa Valley, is open because Supervisor Kevin Jeffries is not seeking reelection.
Medina campaigned on a promise to seek more oversight of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, which is the subject of a state civil rights investigation and several lawsuits filed by dead jail inmates’ families.
Roth, whose top contributors included the union representing sheriffs’ deputies — a strong backer of Sheriff Chad Bianco — said the department “has to comply with the law” and supervisors “had an obligation to investigate” any wrongdoing.
Like Medina, the termedout state senator touted his record of accomplishments in Sacramento, including getting money to kickstart UC Riverside’s medical school.
A Riverside County employee, Torres said “I understand where change needs to happen” in county government. She campaigned on a platform of addressing homelessness and the rising cost of living.
Walsh, who ran for supervisor in 2016 and 2020, campaigned as an outsider who wasn’t beholden to developers or special interests. She promised to support a moratorium on new warehouses and to stop the influx of homeless people being bused into the city of Riverside.