Unofficial results suggest election yielded more drama than change

For all the sturm and drang leading up to Tuesday’s elections, it appears the political landscape in Imperial County will end up changing very little once the official results are in.

That’s not to say the results reported so far aren’t interesting or that the picture won’t change more come November, but in the end, it appears only two incumbents in county races will be displaced through Tuesday’s vote.

Voter turnout for most races generally hovered in the 16 percent to 17 percent range, with the exception of two of the three Imperial Irrigation District races, which drew 17.82 percent and 20.02 percent of eligible voters for divisions 1 and 3, respectively.

Voter participation in Westmorland’s City Council race was a bit ahead of the norm, as well, with 28.65 percent of voters engaged. Imperial County Registrar of Voters Debra Porter said turnout overall of Tuesday’s vote was about average.

She estimated about 52 percent of voters cast their votes by mail. This is a trend that has been growing over the years.

Porter said she was “less than happy” with the results of an early voting program that allowed voters to cast their votes prior to June 5 in the Imperial County Mobile Office.

The mobile unit was open in different communities on announced dates in the weeks leading up to the election.

However, no more than a handful of voters turned up at any of these events, leading Porter to conclude those resources might be better used elsewhere.

For instance, the county elections office did have some success with offering a drop-off service for mailin ballots at local city halls, excluding Westmorland, once a week.

Apparently, enough voters were eager to take advantage of not having to pay postage on their ballots to make the service worthwhile.

It’s also possible the mobile voting office idea will be revisited for the Nov. 6 election.

Porter said the program was tried in November 2016 with much greater success than demonstrated this spring, suggesting the lack of turnout may have been seasonal, despite the mobile office having “very good air conditioning.”

With 100 percent of the vote in, here are the unofficial results for all county races.

The Registrar of Voters Office has until July 5 to verify the results and declare them official. Porter said she expects the results to be confirmed much sooner than the deadline.

Judge of the Superior Court, Seat 1

• Juan Ulloa, 5,837 votes (54.44 percent)

• Robert A. “Bob” Espinosa, 2573 votes (24 percent)

• Steve Escalera, 2312 votes, (21.56 percent)

ANALYSIS: The long-time incumbent appears to have held on to his seat despite accusations from his rivals that he is “rude insolent and ineffective” and that prosecuting attorneys and public defenders both have “rejected” him. In the end, however, Ulloa wound up outdistancing both of his challengers combined at the polls.

Judge of the Superior Court, Seat 3

• Tom Storey, 4207 votes (38.99 percent)

• Monica Lepe-Negrete, 4,193 votes (38.86 percent)

• Carlos Acuña, 2,389 (22.14 percent)

ANALYSIS: This apparent photo finish for the top two candidates means that Storey and Lepe-Negrete likely will get to do it again in a November run-off. All things being equal, presumably they’ll be competing for Acuña’s supporters.

County Supervisor, 1st District

• John R. Renison, 731 votes (37.47 percent)

• Jesus Eduardo Escobar 511 votes (26.19 percent)

• Joong S. Kim 431 votes (22.09 percent)

• Carlos “Jesse” Contreras 278 (14.25 percent)

ANALYSIS: The incumbent held a comfortable lead in the primary, but there are enough votes up for grabs with the narrower field potentially to make things interesting in a likely November run-off.

County Auditor/Controller

• Josue “Josh” Mercado, 5,798 votes (55.82 percent)

• Douglas Newland, 4,589 votes (44.18 percent)

ANALYSIS: A somewhat surprising result for one of the less talked-about races leading up to Tuesday, but the unofficial results indicate voters had a stronger desire for change than the buzz let on.

County District Attorney

• Gilbert G. Otero, 6,014 votes (55.92 percent)

• Edgard Garcia, 4.740 votes (44.08 percent)

ANALYSIS: Despite some vocal and passionate criticism during the campaign, the incumbent appears to have comfortably held his seat against the challenge from the El Centro councilman.

Imperial Irrigation Director, Division 1

• Alex Cardenas, 967 votes (54.57 percent) • Juanita Salas, 805 votes (45.43 percent)

ANALYSIS: Despite aggressive opposition from the coalition of farmers who comprised the Imperial Valley First political action committee, the former El Centro mayor appears to have won the most bitterly contested local race in the election by a comfortable margin.

Imperial Irrigation Director, Division 3

• James C. Hanks, 1,117 votes (51.55 percent)

• Raul Navarro, 1050 votes (48.45 percent)

ANALYSIS: Imperial Valley First reportedly spent more than $70,000 trying to defeat the current IID board president, along with Division 1 candidate Cardenas and Division 5 Director Norma Sierra Galindo. This close finish signals how much difference that money may have made. Nevertheless, by exceeding 50 percent of the popular vote, Hanks appears safely in for another term.

Imperial Irrigation Director, Division 5

• Norma Sierra Galindo, 882 votes (37.58 percent)

• Carlos Zaragoza, 634 votes (27.01 percent)

• James “Jimmy” Horn, 500 votes (21.30 percent)

• Luis J. Castro, 210 votes (8.95 percent)

• Ruben Casarez, 121 votes (5.16 percent)

ANALYSIS: This one is far from over. Now that the herd is thinned down to two candidates, don’t be surprised to see Imperial Valley First double down on its efforts to discredit the incumbent Galindo before a presumed November runoff. There are plenty of votes to claim by then, and the group would appear to have plenty of time, money and motivation to go after them.