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Harder Ousts Denham In Congressional Race
Josh Harder.jpg
Josh Harder has defeated incumbent Congressman Jeff Denham in the 10th Congressional District race.

It became official late Tuesday afternoon: Democratic challenger Josh Harder has an insurmountable lead over incumbent Republican Congressman Jeff Denham in the race for Denham’s 10th Congressional District seat.

Harder will take over the seat, which includes Stanislaus County and a portion of San Joaquin County. Denham had a slight lead in the polls on election night and for a few days following, but Harder began to catch up and then eventually passed the incumbent with announcement late Tuesday that Harder has been declared the winner.

DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Luján released the following statement on the Harder victory: “Congratulations to Josh Harder on an incredible campaign – it was truly a campaign of the Valley, for the Valley. Josh’s historic victory is a testament to the grassroots energy behind his campaign, which was disciplined and laser-focused on the kitchen table issues that Central Valley families face every day. I know Josh will continue to be a fierce advocate for the Valley in Congress – and look forward to working with him in Washington.”

Meanwhile, other results from the Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters office as of Nov. 13 showed Oakdale City Council member Cherilyn Bairos polled 4,276 votes, leading the trio of candidates running for two open positions on the council.

Christopher Smith was in second at 3,042 and Teresa Kinney had 2,747. Election results have not been finalized; but the numbers indicate Bairos will return to the panel with the second seat to be determined.

Mayoral candidate J.R. McCarty had 5,368 votes in his unopposed bid to replace outgoing Pat Paul in the mayor’s seat.

In the Oak Valley Hospital District race, Dr. Chet Mahida ranked first among the four candidates with 8,324 votes, according to the totals available on Tuesday. Three seats are available – Dr. Edward Chock was second in voting with 7,525 votes and Dan Cummins was at 6,260 votes with Kent Kushar trailing at 4,134 votes. Chock and Cummins are incumbents.

Heath Flora easily won reelection in the 12th Assembly District with a 55,857 to 37,904 vote margin over challenger Robert D. Chase.

Countywide, Scott Kuykendall was the choice over Shannon Sanford for county Superintendent of Schools while incumbent District Attorney Birgit Fladager easily outdistanced challenger John R. Mayne in her bid for reelection.

In Oakdale, Measure C, the cannabis tax, received overwhelming approval, 4,871 ‘yes’ votes to 2,092 ‘no’ votes.

The voters in Stanislaus County also favored John Cox for governor; casting 73,309 votes for him and 68,418 for Gavin Newsom. That vote did not reflect the statewide results, as Newsom was elected as the state’s next governor.

Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters Lee Lundrigan said the approximate number of ballots remaining to be processed include 11,000 provisionally voted ballots, 700 conditionally voted ballots and some 6,000 miscellaneous and remaining vote by mail ballots.

The canvass will continue until complete. The office was closed Monday, Nov. 12 in observance of Veterans Day and the canvass began again on Tuesday, Nov. 13.

California law requires certification of the election to be on or before Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, which is 30 days following Election Day.

Stanislaus County was third of 58 counties to report results to the California Secretary of State on election night, Lundrigan noted.

More information regarding the General Election is available on the Stanislaus Registrar of Voters website at: stanvote.com.