Four days after voters cast their ballots, San Joaquin County election officials nearly halved the number of votes awaiting processing, bringing several closely watched local races into sharper focus while leaving thousands of ballots to count.
The Registrar of Voters Office reported Friday evening that election workers had processed more than 46,000 additional ballots since Thursday, bringing the countywide total to 167,288. An estimated 45,421 ballots remain unprocessed, down from more than 90,000 the previous day.
The latest returns have done little to alter the direction of Stockton’s City Council races.
Incumbents Michele Padilla and Michael Blower continue to hold commanding leads in their bids for second terms, while a third contest remains complicated by criminal allegations and the possibility of a council vacancy.
Across San Joaquin County, the results offer an increasingly clear picture of voters’ choices, even as election workers continue the painstaking process of verifying and counting ballots that arrived in the final days of the election.
Stockton incumbents hold their ground
For Padilla and Blower, Friday’s additional votes reinforced advantages they established shortly after polls closed Tuesday.
Padilla, who represents Stockton’s northernmost council district, leads challenger Tamica Small with approximately 57% of the vote compared to 42% for Small. Blower holds a wider advantage in District 3, where he has received nearly 60% against Jessica Toccoli, who has just under 41%.
Both incumbents entered the election following a turbulent period at City Hall, where political infighting, leadership changes and questions about council conduct have dominated public meetings for much of the past two years.
Their apparent victories could provide a measure of continuity for a council facing pressure to restore public confidence following a San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury investigation that found governance problems and interference with city employees.
In interviews with Stocktonia following Tuesday’s election, both councilmembers pointed toward a renewed focus on neighborhood concerns rather than political disputes.
Padilla emphasized public safety, homelessness and improving city services, while Blower credited his campaign’s performance to his record on infrastructure and constituent concerns.
The outlook remains far less straightforward in District 5.
Desiree Lynch, who faces six felony election fraud charges related to allegations about her residency and voter registration, continues to lead incumbent Brando Villapudua with approximately 54% of the vote.
Lynch withdrew from the campaign after prosecutors filed charges against her, and her attorney has said she will not serve if elected. Villapudua, who faces his own investigation into allegations concerning his residency, sits at nearly 46% of the vote.
The situation could force the City Council to navigate a vacancy process after the election results become official. The candidate who finishes second would not automatically receive the seat.
Manteca remains a race to watch
While Stockton’s council contests have shown relatively little movement, the race for Manteca mayor remains considerably closer.
Challenger Jacob Naven leads incumbent Gary Singh by fewer than 700 votes after garnering 51% of votes counted so far.
The narrow margin leaves greater uncertainty about the final outcome as election workers continue processing outstanding ballots.
At the congressional level, Democratic Rep. Josh Harder maintained a substantial lead over Republican John McBride in California’s 9th Congressional District, a race the Associated Press has already called for Harder.
The Associated Press has also called the Assembly District 13 race for Democratic incumbent Rhodesia Ransom, who maintained a commanding lead over Republican challenger Tom Patti.
Thousands of ballots remain uncounted
The growing vote totals reflect a counting operation that has continued since Tuesday night, when approximately 41,000 San Joaquin County residents voted in person at polling locations throughout the county.
Election officials had counted more than 121,000 ballots by early Wednesday morning. Since then, workers have spent days verifying signatures, opening mail ballots and examining votes that require additional review before entering them into the official count.
Most of the remaining ballots arrived by mail on or before Election Day. Others include provisional ballots, conditional voter registrations and mail ballots received after polls closed Tuesday.
The county must also examine ballots that were damaged or require further review, while some voters still have an opportunity to resolve signature or identification issues that could prevent their ballots from being counted.
Registrar of Voters Olivia Hale said Thursday that the county was progressing as expected despite reporting nearly 5,000 more unprocessed ballots than at the same point during the 2022 general election.
“We are continuing to see a smooth process here in San Joaquin County,” Hale told Stocktonia. “We have been verifying signatures, opening and scanning the vote-by-mail ballots that were dropped off or mailed by Election Day.”
Hale previously indicated that voter participation appeared higher than during the last midterm election, although the final turnout will not be clear until the county finishes counting.
As of Saturday morning, just over 40% of the county’s 415,611 registered voters had cast ballots included in the official tally.
Although the latest results have strengthened the outlook for several candidates, election officials do not provide a breakdown of outstanding ballots by individual race. That makes it difficult to determine how many votes remain uncounted in Stockton, Manteca or other jurisdictions.
The Registrar of Voters Office expects to release another round of results by 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, followed by updates every Wednesday and Friday.
County officials expect to certify the election Nov. 25, when the remaining ballots will have determined whether the early leads translate into official victories.