Eggman takes early lead in State Senate race
Cooper, Flora on track to keep their seats in Assembly
State Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman’s campaign was feeling confident late Tuesday night in her bid to move into the California State Senate.
With 30.6% of districts partially reporting in District 5 as of 10:31 p.m., Eggman, DStockton, held a 60.0% to 40.0% lead over Jim Ridenour, RModesto,
(115,051 votes to 76,589), a margin that campaign manager
Camille Zapata was confident would hold up.
The California State Senate’s District 5 includes all of
San Joaquin County, the northern half of Stanislaus County (with Modesto, Riverbank and Salida) and a small chunk of southern Sacramento County that includes Galt.
“Noting that San Joaquin County and Stanislaus County
are battleground counties,” Zapata said. “She’s from Turlock, so it’s kind of come full circle. We’re confident in the numbers, and very excited in the early results.”
The District 5 seat opened up because Cathleen Galgiani, D-Stockton, termed out this year.
Eggman watched results come in with supporters and staffers on Zoom, live broadcast on Instagram and Facebook.
“We are meeting virtually, but this campaign is real, and it is going down tonight,” Eggman said to open the broadcast.
She touched on several of her stump topics, which included a better approach to homelessness, green and up-to-date infrastructure, and education equity, including trying to bring a university to the area.
“A big overhead, just noticing right in the primaries,” Zapata said, “Susan showed that big interests, Realtors and oil, couldn’t come into her community and a place she represented for so long, and define her. She showed that her values and her idea of how public service should be shined through and buckled her during the primaries.”
Eggman is a 58-year-old former social worker who grew up in Turlock and earned a bachelor’s of psychology and a master of social work degree at Cal State-Stanislaus, then a doctorate degree in social work from Portland State. She was elected to the Stockton City Council in 2006, then joined the California State Assembly in 2012.
Eggman’s endorsements included Gov. Gavin Newsom, Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs and Lodi Unified School District Board of Education Trustee George Neely.
Ridenour, R-Stockton, is the 79-year-old former mayor of Modesto. He worked 40 years in emergency medicine, starting as a paramedic and rising to become vice president of operations for the Northern California Division of American Medical Response. He served on Modesto’s city council from 2003 to 2012, and has worked part-time with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office since he left.
Among Ridenour’s endorsements was Lodi Mayor Doug Kuehne. He ran on a campaign of keeping taxes low, supplying water to the agricultural industry and drives the state’s economy, and stopping efforts to defund police departments.
9th Assembly District
Incumbent Jim Cooper, D-Elk Grove, cruised to reelection on Tuesday night, earning a fourth term with a landslide victory over challenger Eric Rigard, RElk Grove.
With 82.4% of precincts reporting, Cooper held a commanding lead with 69.6% of the votes (69,234) to 30.4 (30,224) for Rigard.
District 9 includes the cities of Elk Grove, Lodi, Galt and Sacramento,
“We’re very encouraged by the results. Nearly 70 percent, that shows how well he’s represented the 9th District,” said Cooper campaign spokesman Skyler Wonnacott. “He’s had strong endorsements in the Lodi area, like the (San Joaquin County) Farm Bureau. He’s a good moderate Democrat representing the people very well.”
Cooper’s main focus moving ahead is economic recovery, Wonnacott said.
“The pandemic is real and a second wave is coming. Our focus is on making sure folks are getting by and have enough money to put food on the table. We need to protect public health and make sure we support our small businesses and farmers.”
Cooper’s race was a spending mismatch, with the assemblyman having raised $689,667 since Jan. 1 to Rigard’s $6,271.
Prior to his election to the Assembly in 2014, Cooper worked for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department for 30 years, where he reached the rank of captain. He also served as founding mayor when Elk Grove was officially incorporated as a city in 2000 and sat on the Elk Grove City Council for 14 years.
The Democrat has been able to garner cross-party support locally through his advocacy for California’s agriculture industry. He has also been a strong supporter of public safety employees.
Rigard is a retired businessman who has lived in Elk Grove for more than seven years. A self-described pro-life, conservative Christian, he was endorsed by the Sacramento County Republican Party and the San Joaquin Republican Party.
12th Assembly District
Incumbent Heath Flora, R-Ripon, was locked in a more competitive battle than Cooper, but still had a comfortable lead over challenger Paul Akinjo, D-Lathrop, with 59% of precincts reporting.
Flora had 57,628 votes (55.2%) to Akinjo’s 46,825 (44.8%) as he looked poised to earn a third term in District 12, which includes the rural communities of Clements, Lockeford and Victor.
Flora raised $400,475 this year while Akinjo failed to report any contributions.
Flora, a businessman and former volunteer firefighter, was first elected to the Assembly in 2016 with a hard-fought victory over fellow conservative Ken Vogel.
Like Cooper, Flora has been a strong advocate for the agriculture industry and public safety employees.
A native of Nigeria, Akinjo immigrated to the United States in the early 1980s, and has been a Lathrop resident since 2001.
A registered Democrat, he was appointed to the Lathrop City Council in 2012, and re-elected in 2014 and 2018.
Flora and Akinjo were unavailable for comment.