And the winners are . . .

June 8, 2010

Here we are, live in CalCoastNews Election Central, waiting for the first returns to be posted. Check with us throughout the evening as we report on the results from today’s California primary.

And feel free to add comments as we go along. We want to make this as interactive as possible. Glad to have you along.

8:01: Most important news for the moment. Third quarter. 2:57 remaining. Lakers 62. Celtics 54. Go Lakers!

8:07: Initial results start coming in. Republican Assembly race: With little more than 6 percent of the vote counted, Katcho Achadjian has 43 percent, Matt Kokkonen 27 percent, Etta Waterfield 25 percent, and Fred Strong 10 percent. Keep in mind that these are SLO County votes only and do not include Santa Barbara County where Waterfield is expected to do quite well.

8:12: County Sheriff’s race: Same percentage of vote gives a wide lead to Ian Parkinson 41 percent, Jerry Lenthall 16 percent, Joe Cortez 15 percent, Tex Teixeria 10 percent, Ben Hall 8 percent, and Mark Adams 6 percent.

8:15: District II Supervisor race: Bruce Gibson is looking strong, as expected, against the guy with the name nobody can pronounce or spell. Gibson has about 75 percent of the early vote.

How are those Lakers doing??????

8:20: Who will replace Katcho in District IV and will there be a runoff? With almost 7 percent of the vote, Mike Zimmerman leads with 35 percent, Paul Teixeira has 32 percent and Jim Guthrie has 31 percent.

by the way, Zimmerman is having his party at The Girls in AG. Feel free to crash.

8:25: Statewide, it could be a very good night for Republican women. Both Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina has jumped out to huge leads over their male opponents in the governor and U.S. Senate primaries.

8:28: People are already commenting on the leads by certain candidates. Keep in mind, these are likely absentee ballots, which likely favor conservative candidates. Conservatives tend to vote early by write-in. Liberals are far more lazy. Parkinson is also benefitting from early voters. Still 93 percent to be counted. it’s anyone’s night.

So how about those Lakers?

8:31: OMG — Lakers lead Celtics by just one. 68-67!!! Calling Jerry Lenthall.

8:35: Looks like a close race out in Morro Bay for mayor. Bill Yates, who was mayor for two terms back in the 90s is pulling a Jerry Brown and running again. Betty Winholtz is nipping at his heels. Only three points separate the candidates.

8:45: The networks are now projecting that Meg Whitman will be the Republican nominee for governor, running against Jerry Brown in the fall. Whitman spent $71 million of her own money to secure the nomination. Gulp.

8:50: Here’s how the state ballot measures are shaping up: Prop 16 (PG&E measure) 51.2 percent Yes. 48.8 percent No. The only measure losing right now is Prop 15 (California Fair Elections Act). nearly 58 percent of the voters say No so far.

8:55: LAKERS WIN GAME 3  91-84!

9:05: Measure A-10 is hanging on in Arroyo Grande with 66 percent of the vote. Supporters are trying to fund a new police station in AG.

9:17: Crack CCN Election Team trying to stay awake — no new election results posted for the county in the last hour. Are they celebrating the Lakers’ victory or is Gail Wilcox in the building?????

9:20: We’re having no trouble getting statewide results out of Sacramento. Abel Maldonado has a 2-1 lead over his nearest opponent in the primary race to secure the nomination for lt. governor, a job he already has. It’s complicated, we know. He just got the job. Now he has to get nominated AGAIN. And then run AGAIN– probably against Gavin Newson, that mayor guy from San Francisco.

9:22: The PG&E measure (Prop 16) is now leading 52 to 47 percent.  Oh-Oh.

9:25: UPDATE Clerk_recorder Julie Roldewald announces delay in the count, but says not to worry. Ballots from North County are being hand-delivered. Steve Bolts is driving them down.

9:27: Reports from Parkinson Campaign HQ says the candidate is keeping the crowd entertained by leading everyone in a chorus of “(County) Lean on Me.”

9:39: Well, this is interesting/frustrating. While SLO County can post no new results for 75 minutes, Santa Barbara County has posted nearly 40 percent of their votes–and it’s looking interesting for Etta Waterfield. IN SB County ONLY, Waterfield scores 47 percent of the vote, Kokkonen has 26 percent, Katcho only has 22 percent and Strong is weak at less than 3 percent. This could spell trouble for Katcho.

9:45: It’s getting tighter on Prop 16. Yes is 51.4 percent. No is 48.6. PG&E spent $50 million to try and pass this. The opposition spent less than $50,000.

9:46: Really. I’m not kidding. Can someone please find Julie Rodewald? We told her not to borrow those voting machines from BP.

9:49: RESULTS!!!!  Assembly (SLO County only) Katcho remains in the lead with 43.4 percent, Kokkonen has 27.4 percent percent, Waterfield has 25 percent and Strong is only at 3.8 percent. This is with just under 12 percent of vote tallied (way behind Santa Barbara County vote counting)

9:50: Looks like Bruce Gibson continues his wide lead over that guy with the funny name for District II supervisor. Meanwhile no new results for District IV race, though police have been called to The Girls restaurant to quiet down the Mike Zimmerman election party. Apparently booze everywhere.

9:52: County sheriff race unchanged at 11.6 percent of vote counted. Parkinson continues to lead with 41 percent of vote. Lenthall ahead of Cortez by a slim margin for second. Velie and Congalton are packing their bags — looking to start new investigative reporting web site in Fargo.

9:59: Here is your first Moment of Zen for election night. Meanwhile networks are calling the race for Carly Fiorina and say she will be the Republican Senate candidate against incumbent Barbara Boxer. Meow!

10:10: Prop 16 update. Yes 52.8 percent No 47.2 percent.

10:12: The Tribune publishes new editorial, endorsing Ian Parkinson for re-election as sheriff in 2012.

10:20: Prop 16 update. Yes 51.5 percent. No 48.5 percent.

10:31: 24 percent of votes count for Sheriff–Parkinson still at 41.7, Lenthall has 17.0, Cortez at 15.9 and Tex at 10.3.  Where are those South County votes????

10:42: Almost time to break and watch KSBY election returns. Can’t wait to hear what Tony Cipolla has to say. Oh. Wait a minute.

10:44: In the Republican Assembly primary, it remains Katcho, Kokkonen, Kwaterfield and Kstrong in that order. Of course, it’s only SLO County. We’ll go check SB County. Back in a sec.

10:48: OK. Quick math. With two counties COMBINED, Katcho is in the lead with 8,841 votes. Waterfield has 7,554. Kokkonen is in third place with 6,490.

10:49: Velie is taking a break to go finish up her next investigative reporting piece, to be posted Wednesday morning on this site. Having read the story, all we can say is “Holy Shit!!”

10:57: Prop 16 update. Yes 51.3 percent. No 48.7 percent. Remember that in statewide elections, votes from the Bay Area and LA County are the last to be counted. This could get interesting.

11:16: As we wait for those South County votes, check out Karen Velie’s new article about the newest member of the Arroyo Grande City Council.

11:20: Finally! An update on District 4 county supervisor. With just under a third of the vote counted, Mike Zimmerman clings to a lead with 35.4 percent. Teixeira hangs on to second with 33.3 percent and Jim Guthrie must be sweating a bit in third place with 30.9 percent.

11:22: CHECK IT OUT, PEOPLE. Prop 16 update: Yes 49.3 percent. No 50.7 percent!

11:22:30: Rob Bryn posts another message on Facebook, saying anyone who votes against PG&E is a commie.

11:35: With nearly 40 percent of the vote counted in the Sheriff’s race, Ian Parkinson has a commanding lead with about 41 percent of the vote. Lenthall and Cortez are in a tight race for second place. HOWEVER, the votes that are in likely are from absentee and SLO, Parkinson strongholds. He will not win outright tonight (most likely) because you need 50 percent of the vote. The votes still coming in should swing more towards Lenthall or Cortez. So it looks like a definite runoff race in the fall, but hard to say still who will be involved.

11:48: If Jim Guthrie has a Hail Mary pass in the 4th district county supervisor race, he better throw it now. With 86 percent of the vote remaining, Guthrie lags behind Zimmerman AND Teixeira–36.7, 32.2 and 30.7 percent respectively. There will definitely be a runoff for this race in November. The only chance Guthrie has left is for the remaining ballots to come in from Arroyo Grande.

11:50: Ian Parkinson’s brother Eric just showed up at the Clerk-Recorder’s office and offered to help count ballots.

11:54: Prop 16 update–Yes. 49.2 percent.  No 50.8 percent.

12:01: With 52 percent of the vote in the Sheriff’s race, Joe Cortez nudges into second place.

12:06: Katcho is making his move in the Assembly race. Combined SB and SLO Counties totals: Katcho 10,906, Waterfield 8,961, and Kokkonen 7,809. Looking good for Katcho. But still many votes to count.

12:14: 93 percent of the vote in for 4th District. Zimmerman in command. Teixeira has 3321 votes or 31.7 percent and Guthrie remains in third with 3228 or 30.8 percent.

12:16: Cortez improving his lead over Lenthall. Clearly now in second place, behind Parkinson.

12:22: The Tribune has reaction from the top three sheriff’s candidates.

12:24: Still with us? Time for a Second Moment of Zen.

12:28: Update on Prop 16 (PG&E). Yes. 48.8 percent. No. 51.2 percent.

12:36: 100 percent of the votes in for District 4 county supervisor.

MIKE ZIMMERMAN 4025 37.06%

PAUL TEIXEIRA 3482 32.06%

JIM GUTHRIE 3328 30.64%

This has to be one of the biggest news stories of the night. How the hell did Jim Guthrie not make the runoff? How does the one left-leaning candidate finish third behind two conservatives with almost identical platforms? This is nothing short of stunning. Any thoughts? Anyone?

12:40: Meanwhile, all signs in District 2 point to an easy re-election for Gibson. More than 70 percent of the vote reported and he’s got more than 70 percent. The man with the difficult name to pronounce is finding it even more difficult to find votes.

12:41: My gut tells me that Teixeira came in second because he was the only Nipomo candidate and Nipomo is the sleeping giant. It’s still stunning that Guthrie failed to make the runoff.

12:46: Looks like Lois Capps will be running for re-election against Republican Tom Watson. He won the Republican vote throughout the district.

12:48: 100 percent of the votes counted for Morro Bay mayor:

BETTY WINHOLTZ 978 34.44%

WILLIAM YATES 921 32.43%

The two now head to a runoff in November.

12:55: Latest update on Prop 16. Yes 48.5 percent. No 51.5 percent. Nearly 60 percent of the vote tallied. Keep in mind. PG&E spent $50 million trying to get this passed. The opposition spent $50,000. We are cautiously optimistic that 16 will fail.

12:56: Hey! Who turned out the lights?

12:59: 81 percent of the vote counted in the Sheriff’s race and it is increasingly looking to be a November race between Parkinson and Cortez. Lenthall hangs in the hunt, but he also needs a Hail Mary pass in the next 30 minutes.

1:05: Matt Kokkonen, having lost his 4th election in six years, announces plans to move back to Finland–and run for Parliament.

1:15: 70 percent of the Prop 16 vote counted. Yes. 48 percent. No. 52 percent.

1:30: It’s got to be tough to be in Arroyo Grande tonight. Guthrie loses. The new city councilwoman already has some explaining to do. And A-10, the bond measure to build a new police station came-ever-so-close, but failed to pass.

Total Votes 4262
YES 2756 64.66%
NO 1506 35.34%

It’s sad because AG really needs a new police station. Sorry to hear this news.

1:35: With 81 percent of the vote counted in the Sheriff’s race:

IAN PARKINSON 18077 40.65%

JOE CORTEZ 8168 18.37%

JERRY LENTHALL 7419 16.68%

1:40: Time to shut this down and send the intrepid gang home. Thanks for participating in our first-ever live election coverage. We promise more down the road.

There are still absentee votes to be counted, but it looks like the big winners locally for now were Katcho, Ian Parkinson, Bruce Gibson, Joe Cortez, and Mike Zimmerman. Of all these, we’d give special kudos to Katcho for running a masterful campaign.

Big losers have to include PG&E (maybe), Jim Guthrie, Jerry Lenthall (possibly), and Etta Waterfield.

Of course, we could wake up in the morning and find some of these races have changed. Wait a minute. It is morning.

1:42: One final Moment of Zen that we think you’ll enjoy. Congrats to the winners. Thanks, at least, to the losers for running, and following your hearts.

Good night and good luck!

Your CalCoastnews team