LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — After a long first night of counting the primary ballots, several candidates appear to be headed for victories in both supervisorial and judicial races, while one race remains too close to call.
The Lake County Registrar of Voters issued its final update for the first night of counting at 1:19 a.m. Wednesday.
Based on those initial returns, Jessica Pyska appears headed for a second term as District 5 supervisor, topping challenger Daniel “Boone” Bridges by a margin of 13.5%.
While the District 5 race was expected to be settled in the primary, the biggest surprise of the night may have been the District 4 race, with an open field of four candidates.
Brad Rasmussen, Lakeport’s police chief, led the field by a wide margin with more than 58% percent of the vote.
If he can hold onto a percentage of more than 50 percent plus one — the margin needed in a primary race with more than two candidates — Rasmussen will clinch the seat outright and not have to race to November.
Following Rasmussen in the returns were Laura McAndrews Sammel, with 21.10% of the vote; Scott Barnett with 16.10%; and Chris Read with 4.62%.
The District 1 race for an open seat had five candidates, although one of them was on the ballot but dropped out.
In that field, a neck-and-neck race has emerged between John Hess and Helen Owen.
Hess, a retired congressional chief of staff and Lake County planning commissioner, led for most of the night, particularly in the absentee or vote-by-mail ballot counts.
However, as the night wore on and the precinct returns were reported, Owen, a well-known local rancher, chased Hess down and caught up to him.
By the end of the night, the two were in a statistical dead heat: Hess had a lead of only two votes over Owen — 454 to 452 — and both had far outpaced the rest of the field.
Coming up in third place in the first night’s count was Sean Millerick, with 244 votes, followed by Bryan Pritchard, who dropped out of the race, with 117 votes and Bren Boyd with 25 votes.
In the race for Superior Court judge for Department 4, incumbent Judge Shanda Harry — seeking a second six-year term — was leading by a 53% margin over challenger attorney Anna Gregorian by the end of the night. That margin is likely to be insurmountable even as more ballots are counted in the days to come.
Luke Bingham, running unopposed for sheriff, received 5,401 votes in the initial county, or 100% of the vote.
The Kelseyville Unified School District’s Measure Q bond, which sought to issue $35.5 million in bonds and enact property tax estimated to be $60 per $100,000 of assessed value, needs a simple majority to win. However, the initial election night tally put the “no” votes in the lead by six ballots and less than one percentage point.
The official canvass period will now begin, with the Registrar of Voters Office planning to certify the election by April 4.
Over the coming month, thousands more ballots are expected to be counted and, as a result, the final ballot count and percentages should change significantly, although trends tend to remain the same.
One number that will certainly change is overall voter turnout. The initial estimate was that voter turnout for the Tuesday primary was 19.64%, or 7,181 out of 36,561 registered voters.
Based on past election history, that percentage should increase once the final ballot count is complete.
The full preliminary counts through early Wednesday morning are below.
SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE — DEPARTMENT 4
48 precincts of 48 reporting
* Shanda Harry, 4,688 votes, 76.36%
Anna Gregorian, 1,451 votes, 23.64%
DISTRICT 1 SUPERVISOR
12 precincts of 12 reporting
* John Hess, 454 votes, 35.14%
* Helen Owen, 452 votes, 34.98%
Sean Millerick, 244 votes, 18.89%
Bryan Pritchard, 117 votes, 9.06%
Bren Boyd, 25 votes, 1.93%
DISTRICT 4 SUPERVISOR
11 precincts of 11 reporting
* Brad Rasmussen, 907 votes, 58.18%
Laura McAndrews Sammel, 329 votes, 21.10%
Scott Jason Barnett, 251 votes, 16.10%
Chris Read, 72 votes, 4.62%
DISTRICT 5 SUPERVISOR
8 precincts of 8 reporting
* Jessica Pyska, 1,001 votes, 56.75%
Daniel “Boone” Bridges, 763 votes, 43.25%
KELSEYVILLE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOND, MEASURE Q
10 precincts of 10 reporting
Yes, 794, 49.81%
* No, 80, 50.19%
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Pyska, Rasmussen, Harry top respective races; Hess, Owen in dead heat for District 1 supervisor seat
- Elizabeth Larson
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