Lackey takes early lead against Fox
Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, and his Democratic challenger Steve Fox faced off for their third consecutive rematch on Tuesday night and Lackey was leading in the race for the 36th Assembly district at press time.
Fox was elected in 2012 and served one term until 2014.
About 33 percent of the district was counted at 9 p.m., with former Assemblyman Fox trailing his Republican incumbent opponent at 41.3 percent. Lackey had 58.7 percent.
On Tuesday night, Fox said the race wasn’t over.
“There are still other votes to be counted,” Fox said. “When I won in 2012, it was at the end of the month, when all the ballots were accounted for.”
Lackey said he is happy about the possibility of serving another term.
“It’s always better to have a lead,” he said. “We had registration deficits in the district to
overcome, but what this (lead) tells me is we’ve done a genuine job trying to represent the district to see this kind of return so early. It feels good to see people recognize that.”
Lackey led Fox in fundraising for this election cycle.
Fox contended his campaign was collateral damage in two lawsuits from 2017 and 2015 that alleged abuse from his time in the Assembly.
The California Assembly paid $210,000 to former legislative staff members for claims of harassment and unpaid campaign labor to settle the lawsuits, but Fox maintained they were election stunts to prevent him from being re-elected to a second term.