LAKEPORT, Calif. – It's official – Lake County has a new sheriff and a new measure to enforce rules on medical marijuana cultivation based on the final results of the June 3 primary election.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley released the completed numbers to Lake County News at around 6 p.m. Monday.
In the sheriff's race – arguably the chief contest of the election – challenger Brian Martin held onto his lead and expanded it to win the race outright against incumbent Frank Rivero and Bob Chalk, the city of Clearlake's retired police chief.
In the initial count completed on election night, Martin – who needed 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a runoff – had 51.4 percent of the vote, which rose to 52.1 percent, or 7,773 votes, in the final tally, followed by Rivero with 3,824 votes or 25.6 percent and Chalk with 3,335 votes or 22.3 percent, Fridley said.
Measure N, a county ordinance to institute medical marijuana cultivation rules that was forced to a referendum, needed a simple majority to pass, and received 51.6 percent, or 7,835 votes. No votes totaled 7,352, or 48.4 percent of the vote, according to Fridley.
One race that will change is that for assessor-recorder, which Richard Ford had appeared to have won outright on election night with 50.1 percent.
Fridley said that in the final count, Ford's vote tally dropped to 49 percent, or 6,712 votes, which means he will face a runoff with Sorhna Li Jordan in November.
Jordan had 27.3 percent, or 3,743 ballots cast in her favor. Logan Weiper finished third and out of the running with 23.7 percent, or 3,240 ballots, Fridley's final count showed.
In the race for the District 2 seat on the Board of Supervisors, incumbent Jeff Smith received 43.5 percent of the vote, or 841 votes, and will go to a November runoff with Clearlake City Councilwoman Jeri Spittler, who received 29.3 percent or 566 votes, Fridley reported. Clearlake City Councilwoman Joyce Overton finished third with 527 votes, or 27.2 percent.
For District 3 supervisor, Jim Steele continues to lead with 31.7 percent, or 977 votes, and will face John Brosnan – who received 19.3 percent, or 593 votes – in the November runoff. Other candidates included Marv Butler, 17 percent, 524 votes; Herb Gura, 14.9 percent, 460 votes; James Brown, 11.8 percent, 363 votes; and Mark Currier, 5.3 percent or 162 votes, according to Fridley's final tally.
Measure L, a sales tax measure that would have benefited Clear Lake and water quality projects, needed a supermajority of 66.7 percent to pass, and actually inched closer to winning, according to Fridley's final canvass.
The final results for Measure L showed that it finished with 65.2 percent, or 9,873 votes, a better showing than a similar measure had in November 2012. Votes against Measure L totaled 34.8 percent, or 5,259 ballots, according to Fridley's count.
In the district attorney's race, incumbent Don Anderson continued a substantial lead over challenger Andre Ross. Anderson finished with 59.1 percent, or 8,301 ballots cast, to Ross' 40.9 percent, or 5,735 votes, Fridley said.
The county's final vote count also has a bearing on the tight race for state controller.
As of Monday afternoon, Secretary of State Debra Bowen's office had John Pérez and Betty Yee in a statistical dead heat for the Democratic Party's representation in the November election – both at 21.7 percent – while Republican Ashley Swearengin held a comfortable lead with 24.8 percent.
In Lake County's results, Pérez led with 3,631 votes or 25.6 percent, followed by David Evans, 3,583 votes or 25.2 percent; Yee, 2,590 votes, 18.2 percent; Swearengin, 1,985 votes, 14 percent; Laura Wells, 1,440 votes, 10.1 percent; and Tammy Blair, 965 votes, 6.8 percent.
The initial count Fridley's office released following the election night tally had Pérez leading Yee in Lake County, 26 percent – or 2,326 votes – to 18.6 percent, or 1,662 votes.
Based on the vote count, the additional 1,305 votes Pérez gained in Lake County in the final count – when added to the 876,402 votes the Secretary of State said he's received statewide – gives him an overall total of 877,707 votes.
Yee has a total of 878,191 votes when the additional 928 Lake County votes are added to the 877,263 votes the Secretary of State's Office said she had received across the other 57 counties.
Overall, Lake County's voter turnout was 45.7 percent in the June 3 election, which Fridley called “pretty good.”
Precinct ballots totaled 15.2 percent while absentees came in at 30.6 percent, she said.
“Absentees seems to be always higher these days,” Fridley said said.
Fridley will present the final canvass for certification to the Board of Supervisors at a special meeting set for 6 p.m. Tuesday in the board chambers, located on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes, in Lakeport. The canvass is timed for 6:05 p.m.
Fridley said she also expects to have the full results posted online at the county Web site, www.co.lake.ca.us , later Monday night.
Editor's note: The controller's race tallies have been corrected.
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