McNerney takes early lead against Amador
The polls for the March 3 primary election closed at 8 p.m., and early results posted on the California Secretary of State’s website had Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, ahead of his two challengers.
According to early results, McNerney garnered 23,726 votes for 51.5 % of ballots cast as of 9:25 p.m. Tuesday.
Republican Tony Amador of Lodi earned 15,395 votes for 33.4 percent of the ballots cast, while political newcomer William Martinek had received 6,980 votes for 15.1 percent of ballots cast.
This is Amador’s third attempt at being elected to the United States Congress’ 9th District, which encompasses San Joaquin, Contra Costa and Sacramento counties.
Amador said he was optimistic about the results, and thought that the numbers Martinek, a Republican, was receiving could force another runoff between him and the incumbent.
“Things are looking good,” Amador said just before 10 p.m. Tuesday. “It looks like I’m going to finish second as of right now. And we’re both holding McNerney to below 50 percent (in San Joaquin County), which is encouraging.”
If a candidate earns more than 50% of the vote in a primary, a runoff is not needed. McNerney had only garnered 40.6% of the vote in San Joaquin County.
McNerney issued a statement early in the day looking forward to the Nov. 3 general election.
“It’s been my privilege to serve California’s 9th Congressional District, and I’m proud of what we have achieved — especially the recent groundbreaking of the new veterans’ clinic in French Camp,” he said. “As we approach the general election, I’ll continue to fight in Washington for our community and look forward to hearing from my constituents about their thoughts on how we can build upon the progress we’ve made.”