Oakdale City Council member Cherilyn Bairos polled over 40 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s election, leading the trio of candidates running for two open positions on the council.
Bairos was at 2,455 votes with all precincts reporting in, according to election results from the Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters office, with Christopher Smith at roughly 30 percent with 1,807 votes and Teresa Kinney at 27 percent, with 1,623.
Election results have not been finalized; but the early numbers indicate Bairos will return to the panel with the second seat to be determined.
Mayoral candidate J.R. McCarty had 3,174 votes in his unopposed bid and there were 164 write-in votes for Oakdale mayor as well.
In the Oak Valley Hospital District race, Dr. Chet Mahida was tops among the four candidates with 4,766 votes, accounting for 31 percent. Three seats are available – Dr. Edward Chock was second in voting with 4,405 votes (28 percent) and Dan Cummins was at 3,770 votes (24 percent) with Kent Kushar trailing at 2,474 votes (16 percent). Chock and Cummins are incumbents.
In the 10th Congressional District – one of the most heated races – the result is too close to call, with incumbent Jeff Denham hanging on to a 51 percent to 49 percent vote lead over challenger Josh Harder. In Stanislaus County, Republican Denham had 40,271 votes to the 38,554 for Democrat Harder. The district includes portions of both Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.
Heath Flora easily won reelection in the 12th Assembly District with a 32,295 to 20,915 vote margin over challenger Robert D. Chase. Andres Borgeas polled 15,725 votes to 9,414 for Paulina Miranda in the District 8 State Senate race.
Countywide, Scott Kuykendall had a 55 percent to 45 percent vote lead over Shannon Stafford for county Superintendent of Schools while incumbent District Attorney Birgit Fladager easily outdistanced challenger John R. Mayne, 60 percent to 40 percent, in her bid for reelection.
In Oakdale, Measure C, the cannabis tax, received overwhelming approval, 2,844 votes to 1,215, with 70 percent of voters approving the tax.
Look for full coverage of the Nov. 6 election, including comment from winners, in the Nov. 14 issue of The Leader.
