Did you snooze through primary? Wake up for runoff

Kern County primary voters rewarded experience last week when they cast their primary election ballots.

In two open countywide seats for auditor-controller-county clerk and assessor-recorder, experienced assistant department heads appear to have received overwhelming voter support to replace their retiring bosses. In Kern’s 2nd District, veteran Supervisor Zack Scrivner received a landslide victory to return for a fourth four-year term.

As predicted in the open 3rd District, where three strong candidates were competing to replace retiring Supervisor Mike Maggard, votes were closely split.

According to the updated count posted on the Kern County elections website at 11:35 a.m. Friday, Jeff Flores, Maggard’s chief of staff, was finishing first, with about 39.2 percent of the vote, retired CHP Assistant Chief Brian Smith was finishing second, with 34.6 percent, and nonprofit director Louis Gill was finishing third, with 26.24 percent. With no candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the vote, Flores and Smith appear to be headed to a runoff in November.

Ballots continue to be counted, with county elections officials required to report final figures to the California Secretary of State by July 8. The secretary of state has until July 15 to certify the election.

The big question in the 3rd District runoff in November will be: Who will get the third-place finisher’s votes? The top two vote-getters will be locked into a furious November effort to woo his supporters.

Incumbents in the four remaining countywide races — district attorney, sheriff-coroner-public-administrator, treasurer-tax collector and superintendent of schools — ran unopposed and will return for additional four-year terms.

It’s wise that voters valued experience when they cast their ballots last week. Elected county officials have major impacts on our quality of life and economic health. Candidates for those offices should be judged on their previous experience in elected offices and work.

All state and federal contests on the primary ballot automatically advance to a general election runoff. A system California voters approved a decade ago requires the top two vote-getters in these races to face each other in a November runoff.

Despite the anemic statewide primary voter turnout, there are some lessons embedded in the preliminary results involving Kern County races. Generally, state and federal districts span multiple counties.

Vote counts included in the following state and federal races are those posted on the California Secretary of State website as of the office’s 8:06 p.m. Friday update.

20th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

There is little doubt that incumbent Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, will be reelected in November. If Republicans gain control of the House in the midterm elections, McCarthy aspires to the powerful speaker’s job. McCarthy, who so far has received 58.7 percent of the primary vote, faced two Republican candidates — James Davis, who called himself “Deviant for Congress,” and James Macauley, a retired Sacramento accountant. Davis received 4.9 percent of the vote and Macauley 4 percent.

Democrat Marisa Wood, an English teacher with no elective experience, received 25.1 percent of the vote. Democrat Ben Dewell received 7.3 percent.

22nd CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

This race will be interesting to watch in November. Democratic Assemblyman Rudy Salas of Bakersfield so far has received 43.6 percent of the primary vote. Republican Rep. David Valadao, who is running for reelection in the newly created 22nd District, was coming in at 26.1 percent. The remainder was shared among Republicans Chris Mathys of Fresno, 22.2 percent, and Adam Medeiros of Hanford, 8.1 percent.

Mathys and Medeiros slammed Valadao for being insufficiently loyal to Donald Trump and for voting to impeach the former president. Who will their supporters vote for in a likely November runoff between Salas and Valadao? Republican Valadao, who now represents a predominantly Democratic district, has been in tight races before. This will be a substantial mountain for him to climb.

16th STATE SENATE DISTRICT

Another interesting race to watch in November will be in the newly drawn 16th Senate District. In last week’s primary, Porterville Republican farmer David Shepard was coming in first, with 45.4 percent of the vote, followed by second-place finisher Democratic state Sen. Melissa Hurtado, with 29.9 percent.

Democratic votes were siphoned off by former Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, Bakersfield, 12.2 percent, and Delano Mayor Bryan Osorio, 4.5 percent. Republican Gregory Tatum of Bakersfield received 8 percent.

OTHER LEGISLATIVE OFFICES

With only two candidates in each race, contests in the 12th Senate District and 35th Assembly District will automatically go to a November runoff. But the primary votes these candidates received may be instructive.

In the 12th Senate District, Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove of Bakersfield received 65.8 percent of the vote to Visalia Democrat Susanne Gundy’s 34.2 percent. In the 35th Assembly District, Democratic Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez received 57.2 percent of the primary vote and Democratic physician Jasmeet Bains of Bakersfield received 42.8 percent.

Republican Assemblyman Vince Fong is running unopposed in the 32nd Assembly District primary. With redistricting, political boundary lines were moved and Fong’s district number changed from 34th to 32nd.

With primary voter turnout disappointing, there were few surprises in these primary outcomes — even though the counts are still being updated. The real contests will be in November.

If you snoozed through the primary, you must wake up for the November runoff. Otherwise, you will get stuck with other voters’ choices.