Stockton City Councilmember Michele Padilla no longer held more than 50% of the vote as of the latest count Friday night, meaning District 1 could face a runoff in November.
Tuesday’s primary included three City Council and two county supervisor races, as well as elections for state and national legislators and for the next governor of California.
The most significant local shakeup arising from Friday’s batch of ballots from the San Joaquin County Registar of Voters’ Office was a roughly 3 percentage point drop in incumbent Padilla’s share of the vote, from 51.01% as of Wednesday to 48.8% Friday.
If a candidate clinches more than half the vote, they’ll win the seat outright without having to run against the second-highest vote-getter in the November general election. If not, they’ll face a runoff.
“Between now and November, I will continue earning the trust and support of voters across District 1,” Padilla said Friday.
Tamica Small followed Padilla with 28.33% of the vote, up from 27.07% Wednesday. Third-place vote-getter Annette Sanchez trailed both candidates at 11.15%.
City Council District 5 also saw a narrowing of the gap between its frontrunners.
While incumbent Councilmember Brando Villapudua held 35.62% of the vote Wednesday, he dropped to 34.36% Friday.
Meanwhile, challenger Desiree Lynch increased her share of the vote from 28.86% to 30.46%. Candidate Mary Elizabeth was in third place Friday, with 16.12%.
In contrast to Districts 1 and 5, in City Council District 3, the frontrunner’s lead increased with the counting of the latest tranche of ballots.
Incumbent Councilmember Michael Blower’s lead ticked up from 45.65% as of Wednesday to 47.63% Friday, while challenger Jessica Toccoli’s share decreased slightly, from 38.67% to 37.45%.
Candidate Joey Veltri trailed far behind Blower and Toccoli, with 9.76% of the vote.
As of Friday, incumbent Supervisors Paul Canepa of San Joaquin County District 2 and Steve Ding of county District 4 appeared poised to immediately retake their seats. Canepa held 68.1% of the vote, and Ding held 57.53%.
Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk Steve J. Bestolarides too appeared headed toward an outright win, with 67.26%.
But those positions could still change as elections officials keep counting ballots in the coming weeks, with updates scheduled for 7 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday until all ballots are processed.
Also notable from Friday’s update was former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs’ slim lead in the county over California State Treasurer Fiona Ma in the race to become lieutenant governor.
Tubbs held about 17.19% of San Joaquin County votes Friday, while Ma had 15.5%.
Yet across the state, Ma was significantly ahead of Tubbs and two others as of the state’s 6 p.m. update. Ma held 19.4% of the California vote, followed by candidates Gloria Romero and Josh Fryday, with Tubbs trailing in fourth.
And while Steve Hilton currently holds the largest slice of San Joaquin County votes for governor, former Health and Human Services director and ex-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra leads overall in the statewide race, followed by Hilton and Tom Steyer.