Cook, Rowe hold leads in Supes races

San Bernardino County Supervisors Paul Cook and Dawn Rowe have comfortable leads in their bids for reelection, according to early unofficial results in California’s primary.

District 1 Supervisor Cook and District 3 Supervisor Rowe each hoped to fend off their challengers and secure another term in Tuesday’s contest.

County supervisor candidates can win outright if they get a simple majority

of votes in the primary. Otherwise, a Nov. 5 runoff will take place between the first- and second-place finishers.

District 1

According to early unofficial election results released by the San Bernardino

County registrar at 2 a.m. Wednesday, Cook leads the race, with 63.37% of the vote, followed by Marcus Hernandez with 15.32% of the vote, Clifton Harris with 12.22% of the vote, and Rafael A. Porras with 8.98% of the vote.

The next set of votes is scheduled to be released at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

District 1 includes the Victor Valley communities of Adelanto, Apple Valley, Hesperia and Victorville, along with the High Desert north of Barstow.

Cook is finishing his first four-year term on the Board of Supervisors. But he’s represented the High Desert for much longer, first in the state Assembly from 2006 through 2012 and then in the House of Representatives from 2012 through 2020.

Cook’s challengers include Snowline Joint Unified school board member Hernandez, private investigator Harris and pastor Porras.

District 3

Early unofficial results show Rowe leading the race, with 58.52% of the vote, followed by Chris Carrillo with 21.01% of the vote, Graham Smith with 11.36% of the vote and Robert Block with 8.98% of the vote.

District 3 includes the cities of Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Highland, Grand Terrace, Loma Linda, Needles, Redlands, Twentynine Palms and Yucca Valley. It’s the district that was most affected by the blizzard that hit the San Bernardino Mountains in February and March 2023, and the county’s response to the disaster has been one of the major issues in the election.

Rowe was appointed to her position in December 2018 and reelected in 2020. Before that, she was mayor of Yucca Valley.

Rowe’s challengers include East Valley Water District board of director member Carrillo, and Crestline business owners Block and Smith.

District 5

Supervisor Joe Baca Jr. ran unopposed for reelection.

Cook Rowe