New election results change Sonora High race
Updated election results released Thursday afternoon showed Sonora Union High School District board candidate Keith Arnett overtaking Tristan Kaiser for the second of two seats in the Trustee Area 2 race, though the outcomes of the other 13 local races in Tuolumne County remained the same as at the end of election night.
The latest tally includes an additional 5,716 votes counted since Tuesday, boosting the county’s total to 22,802. That’s a turnout of more than 64%, far exceeding the less than 49% participation rate in the June 7 primary election.
County Clerk and Auditor-controller Debi Bautista, who runs local elections as the registrar of voters, said there were about 500 ballots still left to count as of Thursday afternoon, in addition to however many are received in the mail Monday or Tuesday.
Bautista said she doesn’t plan to release any more results until all of the remaining ballots are counted, with the amount unlikely to change the results of any local races at this point. She said on Wednesday that the Sonora High race was the only one still too close to call after election night.
The last results released Tuesday night showed Arnett closely trailing Kaiser by 45 votes for second place in the four-person race, with the top-two finishers each winning a four-year term on the Sonora High board.
Arnett jumped ahead of Kaiser by 193 votes in the updated results released Thursday afternoon, which showed Arnett with 3,194 votes, or 24%, and Kaiser with 3,001 votes, or nearly 23%.
Mike Holland remained the front-runner with 4,375 votes, or 33%, while Jen Torres remained in last place with 2,610 votes, or nearly 20%.
The outcomes for all of the 13 other local races in the county were unchanged from where they stood in the last round of results released on election night, though appointed incumbent Dena Canaday jumped past challenger Sarah Garcia for second place in the Soulsbyville Elementary School District board race.
Garcia’s still in position to earn a four-year term on the board, however, as she was one of five people competing for three available seats. Christopher Lockhart remained the frontrunner in the race, while Nadiia Solo remained in fourth and incumbent Josh Milbourn in fifth.
The results released Thursday afternoon showed Lockhart with 1,065 votes, or 24%, Canaday with 1,001 votes, or nearly 23%, Garcia with 930 votes, or 21%, Solo with 853 votes, or nearly 20%, and Milbourn with 527 votes, or 12%.
Here are the latest vote totals for the other 12 school and special races in the county as of Thursday afternoon:
School districts
Sonora Union High School District Trustee Area 1
(one seat)
1. Nancy Scott (incumbent) — 2,451 votes (54%)
2. Joanne Catherine Mccullogh — 2,047 votes (46%)
Sonora Union High School District Trustee Area 1
(one seat, two-year term)
1. David Wheeler (appointed incumbent) — 2,411 votes (54%)
2. Kurt Bryant — 2,059 votes (46%)
Summerville Union High School District
(three seats)
1. Jake Hurst — 2,168 votes (33%)
2. Randy Richter (incumbent) — 1,996 votes (30%)
3. Andrea Ransom — 1,397 votes (21%)
4. Darren Daily — 1,029 votes (16%)
Curtis Creek Elementary School District
(three seats)
1. Courtney Castle (incumbent) — 2,101 votes (30%)
2. Nikki Hiemstra — 1,976 votes (28%)
3. Zachary Levey (appointed incumbent) — 1,522 votes (22%)
4. Maren Paris (incumbent) — 1,373 votes (20%)
Summerville Elementary School District
(three seats)
1. Brady Day — 990 votes (31%)
2. Kurt Bayers (incumbent) — 849 votes (26%)
3. Michael E. Brennan (incumbent) — 799 votes (25%)
4. Marta Mantzouranis — 592 votes (18%)
Yosemite Community College District Trustee Area 1
(one seat)
1. Don Davis — 11,977 votes (73%)
2. Tyler Jackson — 4,382 (27%)
Special districts
Columbia Fire Protection District
(one seat)
1. Barry Rudolph — 201 votes (70%)
2. Stan Steiner (incumbent) — 88 votes (30%)
Tuolumne Park and Recreation District
(three seats)
1. Mark Ferreira — 973 votes (32%)
2. Gretchen Sullivan (appointed incumbent) — 770 votes (25%)
3. Marty Anderson — 671 votes (22%)
4. Alexander Horat — 630 votes (21%)
Twain Harte Community Service District
(two seats)
1. M. Charlotte Bohlman (appointed incumbent) — 298 votes (36%)
2. Eileen Mannix (incumbent) — 288 votes (35%)
3. Jay Canavan — 243 votes (29%)
Lake Don Pedro Community Services District
(two seats)
1. Russ Warren (incumbent) — 210 votes (42%)
2. Mary Smith — 176 votes (35%)
3. Dennis Kluding — 115 votes (23%)
Tuolumne Utilities District 1
(one seat)
1. Ron Ringen (incumbent) — 1,970 votes (55%)
2. Brian Shrigley — 1,605 votes (45%)
Tuolumne Utilities District 4
(one seat)
1. Jeff Kerns (incumbent) — 2,336 votes (67%)
2. Alexander Horat — 1,131 (33%)
Contact Alex Maclean at amaclean@uniondemocrat. com or (209) 588-4541.