Central Valley Black candidates had mediocre losses to successful wins in their races
Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media & Julia Dudley Najieb (Central Valley candidates)
Election Day 2020 is behind us, and a winner for President of the United States has not been decided. As predicted, California voted overwhelming for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and they will be receiving the state’s 55 electoral votes.
Also, as predicted, counting the votes in battleground states will take time to determine a state winner.
There are seven battleground states that will determine the next President and right now Joe Biden is leading in four of those states (Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan). President Trump is leading in three (Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania).
If the trends hold in the battleground states, Joe Biden is on course to collect at least 270 electoral votes and will be the next President. But, nothing is certain until all votes have been counted and all lawsuits that Trump is likely to initiate have been resolved.
In California elections, a ballot postmarked by Nov. 3 has up to 17 days later to be counted. Counties have until December 3 to certify contests for office.
Watch last night's ONME News live coverage now:
The vote counts in State District contests involving African American incumbents show that they have all either won or are winning their contests.
ONME News Review "2020 Election Aftermath Part 1," podcast show host, Julia Dudley Najieb reviewed the state-level wins by African-American candidates, as well as local Central Valley--from Kern County to San Joaquin County--losses and unofficial wins from election races involving Black candidates, (watch whole podcast above.) Najieb will also do a briefer summary of Northern CA and Southern, CA candidates as more races are called.
In the Congressional races – Barbara Lee, (Democrat – Congressional District 13), Karen Bass (Democrat – Congressional District 37 Los Angeles) and Maxine Waters (Democrat – Congressional District 43 Los Angeles) have been declared winners.
State Sen. Steve Bradford (Democrat- 35th Senate District) won his contest.
In Assembly races, declared Legislative Black Caucus winners include: Kevin McCarty (Democrat – Assembly District 9), Chris Holden (Democrat – Assembly District 41), Sydney Kamlager (Democrat – Assembly District 54), and Autumn Burke (Democrat – Assembly District 62).
Assemblymembers currently leading in their contests by double digits are Jim Cooper (Democrat – Assembly District 9), Reggie Jones Sawyer (Democrat – Assembly District 59) and Mike Gipson (Democrat – Assembly District 64). However, the percentages of votes counted at this time are not enough to project that those three state legislators will be re-elected in their districts.
State Sen. Holly Mitchell (Democrat – 30th Senate District) was not up for re-election, but she was running for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. She is currently leading in her contest against Los Angeles City Councilman Herb Wesson. If she wins, there will have to be a special election to find a replacement to complete her term in the State Senate.
Central Valley Black candidates election outcomes
Fresno County
Fresno County Board of Education Area 3 seat was an upset for appointed incumbent Dr. Daren Miller, who was the only candidate with a detailed background experience in secondary education; he trailed miserably with 8,614 votes behind leading candidate, James D. Martinez, who garnered 12,759.
State Center Community College District Area 2 served by incumbent Eric Payne, who was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2012, landed in a third-place finish to elected winner, Nasreen Michell Johnson.
Fresno NAACP's Abena Cruise gave it a tough run against incumbent re-elected winner, Richard Caglia, an established Central Valley business owner who will continue to server in the State Center Community College District Area 7 seat.
In an up-note, Shawn M. Brooks will now serve on the Central Unified Board of Trustees, representing Area 4 in Fresno, CA. Brooks is an account clerk for the California Department of Rehabilitation who is also a parent with a student attending school in the district.
Overwhelming winning candidate, Yolanda Moore, will now serve on the Clovis Unified
Board of Trustee representing Area 7 in Clovis, CA, beating out incumbent Christopher Casado who had been on the board since 2008, holding the second-longest duration board trustee term.
Moore is also a parent with two students currently attending school in the district. Moore is a small business owner and also works full time as an emergency medicine physician assistant currently in the ER at Community Regional Medical Center.
Reedley City Council Member District 5 incumbent, Anita Betancourt, continues her servicing her in the city seat uncontested for over a decade; she also served as the mayor recently in 2016 for two years. Since the two positions are not voted on, the mayor and mayor pro-tem positions rotate every two years among the Reedley City Council members.
Kings County
Community activist and educator, Paula Massey, demolished opponent and new-comer Oscar Alvarez for the Hanford Joint Union High School District Trustee Area 2 seat. The seat was left by incumbent John Webster. Massey is also known for her service as one of the most successful Kings County NAACP Presidents, resurrecting the organization from its former defunct status to the community spotlight in Hanford, CA.
Tulare County
Tulare City Council Member Carlton Jones who served district 3 since 2016 lost by a mere 50 votes. Jones was known for his proactive, sole stance on farmers receiving subsidies as another form of "welfare." The incident caused much upset in Tulare, CA, especially among the farming community.
Community advocate Grady Dodson also ran in the Tulare City Council race for district 5, completing a far second place finish; Courtney C. Oliver took a dismal fifth place, the last place in the race.
Incumbent Kayode Kadara will continue to serve on the Allensworth Elementary School Governing Board Member seat winning 74% of the public vote. Kadara is an Allensworth resident and long-time community advocate who also serves/has served on the Tri-County Water Authority Board, the Deer Creek Storm Water Board, the Tulare County Water Commission, and the board of directors of Self-Help Enterprises.
Kern County
Dr. Fred L. Haynes, who lost his wife in August 2020 after 69 years of union and has had a serious of health issues was elected to the Bakersfield City School District Board of Education in November 2012. He represented Trustee Area #5, which encompasses South and Southwest borders; his seat was filled by Shannon Zimmerman.
As a community activist and educator, Dr. Haynes dedicated thirty-three years of service to the Bakersfield City School District as a teacher, central office administrator, and school site principal.
An unfortunate upset for incumbent Rev. Ralph Anthony who served on the Bakersfield City School District Board of Education Area 3 since 2018; he lost to Dr. Chris Cruz-Boone.
Merced County
Los Banos City Council Member District 4 seat was won again unanimously by incumbent Deborah Lewis who has served since 2012; in fact, Lewis ran for public office two times before being elected to the City Council in 2012, (city council member seats are four-year terms but incumbents can run consecutively without limits to re-elections.)
As a retired social services worker who has provided to help those suffering from mental illness, elder abuse and those voluntarily declining medical care, Lewis also served on the Merced County Fair Board and on the Los Banos Arts Council.
Marcus Porter finished in the top two out of four candidates for a Dos Palos City Council
seat, beating out one of the incumbents.
Porter, born and raised in Dos Palos, CA, graduated from Dos Palos High School and was the first in his family to attend a university; Fresno State (CSU Fresno), majoring in mass communications and journalism. He was quickly recruited to the Fresno Bee and won numerous awards for proposal writing and new business acquisition. He runs his own marketing firm which he started in 2015 and oversees advertising at the Dos Palos Sun.
"The job of City Councilmember to me means doing the work everyday to assure that the needs of our city are met and not just once per month on the 3rd Tuesday. I will look to move our city forward by developing communication materials to attract new business, develop a 10-year plan to include construction of a new water plant and repair our aged infrastructure," said Porter in a Facebook post on his page.
Stanislaus County
Paul Akinjo, a Democrat, had a difficult time uprooting Republican incumbent, Heath Flora from the California State Assembly District 12 seat. Akinjo migrated from Nigeria to Oakland, CA in the 1980s, and has resided in Lathrop, CA since 2001. California’s 12th Assembly District includes over half of Stanislaus County, and part of San Joaquin County. Notable cities include Manteca, Modesto, and Turlock. The district is predominantly agricultural. Republicans typically hold this district.
Stanislaus County Board of Education Trustee Area 3 candidate Tracie Anderson was favored by the Stanislaus County Democratic Party, but unfortunately less than 300 hundred votes shy of winning against the incumbent lead, Kimberly Gerber Spina, as each of them divide almost evenly 21,538 of the votes cast.
Young candidate Jaimee Leigh Ellison made an attempt at the Turlock Unified School District Governing Board Member Area 1 seat, landing a very far third place in the election race; 23 year-old Ellison graduated from Pitman High School in 2014, just six years ago.
City of Newman Mayor candidate Timothy Parker, who served on the council from 2000-06, attempted to beat current council member Casey Graham for mayor, since incumbent Bob Martina did not seek re-election. Parker also ran against Martina two years prior and lost. Parker is separated by leading first place candidate by just 309 votes.
City of Newman City Council Incumbent Laroy McDonald will serve a second term, making the tops two choices to serve on the council. McDonald is a Bay Area native who moved to Newman from Oakland 14 years ago, finding the city by accident while looking for a new homes in Patterson. McDonald worked in business development for more than two decades, according to WestisdeConnect.com, consulting with an emphasis on job creation. He worked on a number of high-profile projects in the Bay Area, and was a consultant for the West Park project as well after moving to the West Side.
A narrow win by City of Patterson City Council District A candidate, Shawun Ruth Anderson
where the trailing second is on her heels, separated by just five votes, Anderson's strong appeal may be credited to her experience and background with community issues: For 23 years she worked with girls and families as a community partners manager for the Girl Scouts. Anderson has a bachelor's in clinical psychology, graduating magna cum laude.
San Joaquin County
(NOTE: Final results could take days or weeks; this county is at only a current turnout 39.3%)
Historic incumbent and Democrat, Michael Tubbs, is thus far trailing by almost 2,000 votes in the Stockton Mayoral race behind Republican and U.S. Marine opponent, Kevin Lincoln; there are still thousands of votes to be counted, this race is still pending.
Candidate Viola A. Shackelford is trailing far behind a challenger in a distant second for the Stockton Unified School District (SUSD) Area 1, garnering a little almost 23% of the vote. Candidate Lavichia Jones is in a similar struggle in the SUSD Area 3 race, wincing on a distant third that is over 460 votes behind first place out of 2,721 votes thus far, divided among six candidates.
Leading candidate Ray C. Zulueta Jr. for SUSD Area 4 Board of Trustees is winning by 38.84%, ahead by 376 votes. The Stocktonian and product of Stockton Unified School District represents three generations of SUSD graduates.
Leading candidate Lincoln Unified School District Area 2 candidate, Ashley Jones, has an
overwhelming jump on the two other challengers in the race winning by almost 80% of all votes. Jones, a parent and HR manager for a nonprofit early childhood education program,
in her campaign statement she highlighted her experience in human resources and how it taught her to “facilitate change in an educational environment. She also wrote, “my education and professional growth has given me the foundation to represent our district through effective leadership, ethical practices, and cultural effectiveness to promote diversity and inclusion when educating our children.”
Manteca Unified School District Board Area 1 incumbent, Eric Allan Duncan, Sr., an educator, is leading by almost 72% of the vote, second place is trailing with only 28% of the total vote. Manteca Unified School District has had a rough year: from being in involved election fraud and to accusations of racism. Duncan is part of the California School Board Association's Equity Network. He was among the 20 school board members from across the state called on to identify strategies that addressed inequities in an effort to help close opportunity and achievement gaps. He currently serves as the Manteca Unified School District Board Board Vice President.
The Board of Trustee seats in Areas 1, 3 and 7 are available for four-year terms, while seats in areas 2 and 6 are two-year terms.
Tracy Unified School District Board of Education Candidate Nathalie Hughes Erskine has
made the cut-off so far, landing a second place; this is Erskine first time running for office, and so far winning; voters choose three candidates under one slate. She has experience with the San Joaquin County Equal Opportunity Commission and the San Joaquin County Commission on Aging and his the mother of two daughters currently attending Tracy schools. She also has experience in education management being on a school accreditation committee.
Leading San Joaquin County Supervisor Dist. 5 candidate, Rhodesia Ransom, has a narrow-margin win, with her challenger trailing less than 2,000 votes behind.
Ransom, originally from San Francisco, has lived at least two decades in Tracy and co-founded Sow A Seed Community Foundation, a local non-profit that mentors and offers resources to improve the social, emotional and behavioral health of youth in San Joaquin County. She has developed innovative partnerships with local schools, public safety professionals, and businesses to address unmet community needs for youth and their families. She led efforts to bring gang violence prevention programs into Tracy's public schools. The organization now provides counseling, education, and leadership development services to more than 650 area youth each day. She was appointed to the San Joaquin County Civil Grand Jury, joined numerous committees to help expose wasteful county government spending, and promoted solutions to improve transparency, efficiency, and service delivery across dozens of public agencies.
From 2009-2016, Rhodesia served on the Planning Commission for the City of Tracy, where she worked to improve the quality of life, attract quality businesses by overseeing land use and zoning policies, and advised housing and commercial developments, as well as protecting the environment with new safeguards.
Stockton City Council Dist. 6 Candidate Kimberly Warmsley has soaring lead over her challenger, picking up almost 70% of the vote so far.
Warmsley grew up in Stockton, CA, earning her bachelor's degree and master's degree from California State University, Stanislaus. Her professional experience includes working as a licensed clinical social worker.
She has worked with organizations such as: the Urban Chamber of Commerce, Weston Ranch Community Association, Head Start Board of Directors, American League of Civil Liberties, CSU Student Body Union, Emerge of California 2018, Good Governance Class of 2017, Delta Water Board Advisory Committee, Central Valley Asian- American Chamber of Commerce and Parent Teacher Advisory groups. Her volunteer work includes; educating the community about grant writing; coordinating efforts to assist people in finding jobs; fighting for Medicare for all, empowering business development; breaking the stigma in emotional distress and trauma; exploring realistic solutions to homelessness; combating crime and safety measures within the district and supporting individuals with small business development. Warmsley is also Chair of the Stockton Planning Commission.
City of Tracy City Council incumbent Dr. Nancy Diane Young was elected to the Tracy City Council in November 2012 and reelected in 2016; she is currently ahead against five other challengers by almost 900 votes to become mayor of Tracy, CA.
She’s authored seven published books, attained a bachelor's degree in mass communications from UC Berkeley, a master's degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix, a doctorate in Theology from Good News Seminary and Bible College, a minister’s license from Pentecostal Assemblies of the World and Ordination as pastor from Shield of Faith International.
City of Tracy City Council candidate Eleassia Davis is the leading contender neck-neck-neck with challengers in second and third places; voters were able to choose two candidates from the list of eight candidates on their ballots. Davis is just a few hundred votes shy of either opponent.
Davis is a small-business owner, community advocate, and resident of Tracy, CA for nearly two decades. She and her husband recently celebrated 25 years of marriage and are the proud parents of four great kids who have all grown up in Tracy.
Davis attended and graduated from Merrit and San Joaquin Delta Community Colleges where she earned certificates and degrees in Child Development and Social and Behavioral Sciences, respectively.
Davis is a founding member and the current President of Women's Small Business Network of San Joaquin which supports women in business, leadership, education, and advocacy. She is a past board member of Tracy Women's Forum and is a current member of GFW Tracy Woman's Club and Loyal Order of Moose.
Lathrop City Council candidate Minnie "Cotton" Diallo sits comfortable at the number two spot for now, guaranteeing her a seat on the Lathrop City Council by finishing in the top two among voters; voters had to pick two choice from the one slate of four total candidates. Diallo currently serves as the Chair of the Lathrop Park and Recreation Commission.
She is a generational lifetime resident of Lathrop, CA.
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