Once again, San Benito County’s politics were closely aligned with statewide numbers on the June 5 primary ballot.
Historically, San Benito County has been a bellwether for the state, showing similar results to district and statewide numbers.
With 12,079 ballots cast, and just 390 unprocessed ballots left to county, the unofficial numbers show that the local electorate was largely in line with the state and region on broader considerations.
In the race for governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom gained 33.79 percent of the vote in San Benito County. He has 33.5 percent statewide. In second was Republican John Cox with 23.48 percent in the county compared to 25.9 percent statewide.
In the race for lieutenant governor, Democrat Eleni Koukaliakis had 23.45 percent in county compared to 24 percent statewide. In second from the primary, Democrat Ed Hernandez had 21.78 percent in county compared to 20.4 percent statewide. The closest Republican was Cole Harris with 15.03 percent in county compared to 17.9 percent in the state.
In the race for secretary of state, Democrat Alex Padilla had 47.98 percent here compared to 52.2 percent statewide, and Republican Mark Meuser had 34.08 percent in San Benito County to go with 31.6 percent statewide.
In the controller’s race, Democrat Betty Yee had 58.81 percent in San Benito County compared to 61.6 percent statewide, and Republican Konstantinos Roditis had 35.54 percent in the county compared to 34.4 percent statewide.
In the race for state treasurer, Democrat Fiona Ma had 41.27 percent in county versus 44.1 percent in the state, while Republican Greg Conlon had 21.31 percent here versus 21.3 percent statewide.
In the attorney general’s race, Democrat Xavier Becerra had 43.86 percent here versus 45.3 percent throughout California, and Republican Steven Bailey had 30.34 percent here against 24.8 percent statewide.
As for insurance commissioner, independent Steve Poizner had 42.22 percent in San Benito County versus 41.7 percent statewide, and Democrat Ricardo Lara had 42.11 percent in the county versus 40.1 percent statewide. Just 12 votes separated the two in San Benito County.
The closest statewide race was for superintendent of public schools, a non-partisan race. Marshall Tuck had 36.3 percent in the county against 37.6 percent statewide, and Tony Thurmond had 28.14 percent here versus 35.4 percent in California.
In the race for U.S. Senator, Democratic incumbent Dianne Feinstein had 39.7 percent in San Benito County and 44.1 percent statewide. In second was Democrat Kevin De Leon with 9.59 percent here versus 11.9 percent in California.
In the race for District 20 of the U.S. Congress, Democratic incumbent Jimmy Panetta had 72.68 percent versus 80.7 percent throughout the district, while independent Ronald Kabat had 24 percent here versus 15.5 percent districtwide.
In the State Senate District 12 race, Democrat Anna Caballero had 53.04 percent here versus 43.4 percent in the district. Two Republicans split the GOP vote with Rob Poythress at 26.9 percent here versus 26.3 percent in the district, and Johnny Tacherra with 16.2 percent in the county to go with 22.3 percent in the district.
In the race for State Assembly District 30, Hollister Democrat Robert Rivas had 48.5 percent in San Benito county against 44.8 percent in the district while running against three other Democrats and a Republican. In second, Republican Neil Kitchens had 33.2 percent in the county versus 30.7 percent for the district.
As for statewide propositions, San Benito County voters said “yes” to all five initiatives, while state voters said “yes” to four of the five. The one difference was Prop. 70, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Reserve Fund with 61.75 percent of local voters approving and just 35.5 percent of statewide voters OKing it.
-Kollin Kosmicki
