Ballots counted for local results
The polls have closed and the results are in for the 2018 general election.
With all six precincts reporting on Wednesday, incumbent Mark Chandler beat challenger Spencer Rhoads for the Lodi City Council District 2 seat in Lodi’s first district-based election.
“I’m pleased that they’ve voted to support me, and I’m happy to continue representing their interests,” Chandler said on Tuesday.
Chandler received 1,455 votes (66.32 percent), while Rhoads received 739 votes (33.68 percent).
A self-employed grape grower and marketing professional, Chandler was first elected to the council in 2014, when he received the secondhighest number of votes out of seven candidates to win one of three open seats.
Chandler served as mayor in 2016, and says his experience will help him as he plans to continue advocating more economic growth, balanced budgets and reduced crime.
“Also, improving job training for young people to be able to perform in the jobs that we’re trying to create,” Chandler added.
Rhoads, a legislative analyst and first-time candidate, said on Wednesday that he was proud of the campaign he ran.
“It was very grassroots, lots of friends and family involved,” he said. “I love my hometown, and I tried my best to represent it.”
Rhoads said he learned a lot from his campaign, which he managed himself, and plans to stay involved in local politics in the years to come.
“This was my first election, but it certainly won’t be my last,” he said. “I’m certainly going to be keeping an eye on the city council and advocating for government transparency.”
Rhoads may also try for a position with a local committee or commission before the next election, which he said he has done in the past, albeit unsuccessfully.
“I ran the bast campaign I could, and I’m excited for what the future holds, no matter the results,” he said.
With all 20 precincts reporting Wednesday, challenger Susan Macfarlane beat incumbent Bonnie Cassel for the Lodi Unified School District Board of Education Area 1 seat.
Macfarlane received 2,212 votes (58.2 percent), while Cassel — who has served on the board since 2006 — received 1,589 votes (41.8 percent).
Cassel congratulated Macfarlane on Wednesday, she said, and expressed her confidence in Macfarlane’s abilities as a board member.
“I told her that I know a brand-new chapter is going to open up in her life,” Cassel said. “I know she’s going to be a very good board member given her experience working with childcare.”
Cassel said she and Macfarlane have known each other for years, and that she is proud of how they both ran amicable campaigns.
“We had very forthright, honest, good campaigns,” she said. “I think that was very important to both of us.”
Cassel, who works as an interpretive park ranger in the summers, said she has already been asked to help with the Calaveras Big Tree State parks “Buses to Big Tree” program, which takes underprivileged students to the park for a day where they learn about nature from rangers and docents.
“Almost all of these students have never been to a forest, ever,” Cassel said. “Given my experience as a park ranger, I’m very excited for that.”
With 34 precincts reporting as of 1:31 a.m. Wednesday, challenger Courtney Porter beat challengers Dave Sorgent and Kanwaljeet Gill for the Lodi Unified School District Board Area 4 seat, which will be vacant after incumbent Dr. Daryl Talken’s term expires at the end of the year.
Porter received 2,586 votes (56.3 percent), Sorgent received 1,179 votes (25.7 percent) and Gill received 825 votes (18.0 percent).
With all eight precincts reporting, incumbent Ron Heberle beat challenger Ramon Yepez for the school board’s Area 5 seat.
“I’m very appreciative of the voters having confidence in me, and the groups that endorsed my run for the board,” he said on Wednesday.
Heberle received 2,056 votes (76.6 percent), while Yepez received 630 votes (23.5 percent).
A retired firefighter, Heberle has represented Area 5 since 2010. In his upcoming term, plans to work with his fellow board members to reduce the number of portable classrooms in schools, increase capacities at school sites to prevent overcrowding, and address student behavior and discipline issues.
“All of us are really student-oriented and school-site-oriented, so I think it’s going to be a smooth transition,” he said.
With all 490 precincts reporting, incumbent Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton, beat challenger Marla Livengood, R-Lodi, for the U.S. House of Representatives 9th District seat.
McNerney received 56,188 votes (54.3 percent), while Livengood received 47,316 votes (45.7 percent).
Measure L, a proposed halfcent sales tax increase that will go into Lodi’s general fund, also passed with 6,103 votes (56.9 percent).
Lodi’s sales tax will increase from 7.75 cents per dollar to 8.25 cents per dollar when the measure takes effect April 1, 2019, and is expected to generate an extra $5.4 million per year for the city’s general fund of approximately $50 million to pay for services such as police, fire, parks and the Lodi Public Library.
Had Measure L not passed, city officials projected expenditures would have begun to exceed revenues by fiscal year 2019-20, and by fiscal year 2023-24 the city could have faced a deficit of $6 million, which would have likely forced the city to either significantly reduce services or go bankrupt.
Lodi City Manager Steve Schwabauer on Wednesday thanked the Lodians who voted to pass Measure L, saying that he viewed their support for the measure as a vote of confidence in the services the city provides.
“I take that vote of confidence very seriously, as do all of the city staff, and we want to continue to provide the level of service that earned us that vote of confidence,” he said.
Measure B — a proposed tax of between 3.5 percent and 8 percent on commercial cannabis businesses that would have effectively legalized recreational cannabis businesses in unincorporated county areas — did not pass.
Measure B would have needed a two-thirds majority— approximately 67 percent of the votes — to pass, but only 61.5 percent (58,757) of county voters voted “yes,” while 38.5 percent (36,726) voted “no.”