- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
ELECTION 2016: Aguiar-Curry wins Assembly seat; Thompson, Garamendi reelected in congressional races
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Tuesday, in the races for state and congressional seats representing Lake County, voters elected to send the mayor of a small valley city to the State Assembly and reelected two incumbents to the House of Representatives.
The Secretary of State's Office reported preliminary results for federal and state races early Wednesday that showed that Cecilia Aguiar-Curry was elected to the District 4 State Assembly seat, while John Garamendi and Mike Thompson – Democrats representing Congressional districts 3 and 5, respectively – easily won reelection to the House of Representatives against their Republican opponents.
In the race to succeed Bill Dodd in the Assembly 4 seat, with 100 percent of the district's 486 precincts reporting, Aguiar-Curry, a Democrat and the mayor of Winters, topped Esparto resident Charlie Schaupp, a Republican and retired lieutenant colonel in the Marines.
The race results showed that Aguiar-Curry received 71,862 votes, or 63.6 percent of the vote districtwide, while Schaupp received 41,172 votes, or 36.4 percent, according to the Secretary of State's Office.
The District 4 Assembly race was closer in Lake County, based on preliminary numbers released by the Registrar of Voters Office.
The county returns showed that Aguiar-Curry received 6,673 votes, or 53.8 percent, to Schaupp's 5,737 votes, or 46.2 percent.
Turning to the congressional races, the Secretary of State's Office reported that with all 569 precincts reporting in the District 3 race, Garamendi received 102,237 votes, or 59.5 percent, while his opponent, Dr. Eugene Cleek, had 69,563, or 40.5 percent.
Lake County's voting results mirrored those in the rest of District 3, with 3,888 ballots cast, or 59.2 percent, for Garamendi, while Cleek received 2,678 votes, or 40.8 percent.
In the District 5 race, Thompson had an even more decisive win over challenger Carlos Santamaria.
The Secretary of State's Office results showed that, with 100-percent of the district's 573 precincts reporting, Thompson received 147,902 votes, or 77 percent, compared to the 44,223 votes, or 23 percent of the vote, cast for Santamaria.
In Lake County alone, preliminary results showed that Thompson received 4,034 votes, or 67 percent, to Santamaria's 1,988 votes, or 22 percent.
On Tuesday night, Thompson thanked the district's voters for “the tremendous show of support.”
“With the campaign behind us I look forward to continuing our work together, not as Democrats and Republicans, but united as Americans behind our shared goal of building a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. A future in which every hard-working American has a fair shot at earning a college degree, getting a well-paying job and enjoying financial security in retirement. A future in which everyone has access to quality, affordable health care and every veteran and military family gets the benefits they’ve earned. A future in which we honor our heritage as a nation of immigrants and celebrate the diversity that makes our country strong. A future in which climate change no longer threatens to destroy our planet and no child goes to school fearing for his or her safety,” he said in a written statement.
He concluded, “I’m ready to get to work on behalf of everyone in our Congressional District to turn our vision for a better, safer and more prosperous America into a reality for all.”
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