With a week passing since the Nov. 8 Presidential Election, results from the Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters showed incumbent Congressman Jeff Denham appearing poised for reelection in the 10th Congressional District, receiving 53 percent of the vote in Stanislaus County and 51 percent in San Joaquin County. Challenger Michael Eggman received 49 percent of the vote in San Joaquin and 47 percent in Stanislaus counties.
Denham thanked voters for the support and expressed confidence that his 7,422 vote margin would continue to grow as the final ballots are counted.
“I want to thank the voters of the 10th district and say that I am honored by their decision to choose me as their representative,” Denham said the afternoon following the election. “Our margin is strong and we believe it will grow as additional ballots are counted over the next several days. I will continue to be a voice for our Valley and will fight for our water and for economic policies that grow jobs.”
On Nov. 10, Stanislaus County Clerk Recorder Lee Lundrigan stated an additional 1,650 vote by mail (VBM) ballots were received in the mail. California laws now extend the time period VBM ballots must be accepted beyond Election Day and have been increasing the number of ballots to be processed. The law extends the dates VBM ballots are timely received from 8 p.m. on Election Day for three additional days.
Final results for Congressional District 10 are not expected until next week.
Last week Eggman’s office stated the race was not over until every voice is heard and every vote was counted. Eggman officials said they were working around the clock to ensure every vote is accounted for before the race is officially called.
“My race is too close to call, but this race isn’t over and starting today we are hitting the ground running to make sure every vote is counted and I hope you will continue to stand with me,” Eggman said in a press release. “Together, we have built a strong grassroots campaign that I am confident will ultimately win. But I will need your continued support to cross that finish line. There are still tens of thousands of votes left to be counted and we need to ensure everyone's voice is heard.”
The increased number of approximately 51,650 vote by mail ballots remain to process and count. Vote by mail processing includes checking the signature on each vote by mail envelope against the signature located on the original affidavit of registration, a signature verification, sorting the vote by mail ballot envelopes into one of the 372 precincts in which they would have voted had they not voted by mail, opening and flattening all vote by mail ballots and then processing each of the vote by mail ballots through the high speed ballot scanning equipment to tabulate them.
In the 5th Senate District, incumbent Cathleen Galgiani was outpacing challenger Alan Nakanishi, 53 to 47 percent in Stanislaus County, 57 to 43 percent in San Joaquin County.
The 12th Assembly District, with Heath Flora and Ken Vogel vying to replace the termed out Kristin Olsen was a close race, showing Flora with 54 percent of the vote in Stanislaus County and 48 percent in San Joaquin County, compared to the 52 percent for Vogel in San Joaquin, 46 percent in Stanislaus. That race was also deemed too close to call with the arrival on vote by mail ballots.
Of local interest to Oakdale voters, the countywide Measure L ballot initiative passed with roughly 71 percent of the voters in favor, just 29 percent opposed. The measure will provide funding for local transportation improvement projects by enacting a half-cent countywide sales tax.
Leader Editor Marg Jackson contributed to this report.
