Wednesday: Primary Election Updates

9 A.M. South Lake Tahoe Election

South Lake Tahoe area voters have approved a plan to remove parking meters installed just ten months ago. Measure P was approved by 68 percent of the voters.

Tahoe voters have also opted to renew a $20 property tax that pays for the local Library. Voters approved Measure L with 79 percent of the vote.  Library managers had said the library could close if it failed.

8 A.M. Primary Election Roundup

Registrars are still counting ballots, but California voters have weighed in.  Capital Public Radio's Marianne Russ has a roundup some of the major races from Tuesday's primary election.  

Steve Milne: Let's start with the Governor's race.  Democratic Governor Jerry Brown was expected to advance to November, but the Republican challenger was a lot less clear.  

Marianne Russ: Up until last weekend, Assemblyman and Tea Party favorite Tim Donnelly had been ahead of businessman Neel Kashkari in the polls. But Kashkari's had $2 million of his own money -- plus TV ads - and they appear to have made a difference. Kashkari has received 19 percent of the vote to Donnelly's roughly 15 percent. Donnelly conceded overnight.

Governor Brown has 54 percent of the vote, and talked with reporters last night about why he was successful. 

"Someone once told me you win elections the year before," said Brown. "What's won this election tonight is curing a $27 billion deficit, keeping my promise not to raise taxes unless the people voted for it, and bringing government closer to the people.  We're doing that with the realignment of our prison system. We're doing that with our school system by putting more authority in the hands of teachers, more authority at the local school level."

Milne: It was the first time for California's top two primary. How did the other statewide races shake out?

Russ: Current Lt. Governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom will face Republican challenger Ron Nehring in November, and Democratic Attorney General Kamala Harris finished far ahead of her closest challenger, Republican Ronald Gold, but the two will still go to a run-off.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson was the only state-wide candidate who could have won his race outright. But he fell a bit short of reelection with just 47 percent of the vote. He’ll face Marshall Tuck in November.

The tightest race is the one for Controller. So far, Fresno Mayor Republican Ashley Swearengin leads the pack, with 24.4 percent of the vote, but the second candidate is still unclear. Democratic Assembly Speaker John Perez has 21.7 percent of the vote, Republican David Evans has 21.6 percent of the vote, and Democrat Betty Yee has 21.5 percent of the vote.

Milne: And what about the Secretary of State contest?  I understand that there was a surprise in that race?

Russ: Yes, the surprise was not the top two -- Democratic Senator Alex Padilla and Republican Pete Peterson will battle it out in November -- but in the surprising number of votes Democratic Senator Leland Yee received. He dopped out of the race after being arrested on corruption charges. But his name was still on the ballot and he got nearly 10 percent of the vote - finishing third.

Milne: Locally, it looks like Sacramento will have its first new District Attorney in two decades. 

Russ: Assistant D.A. Anne Marie Schubert received nearly 58 percent of the vote, defeating Maggie Krell and Todd Leras. That means no runoff is needed. Current DA Jan Scully, who's retiring, had hand-picked Schubert to be her successor. Schubert says she's grateful for that - and says one major challenge she'll face is realignment - or the shift of low-risk inmates from state to county supervision.

In San Joaquin County, Assistant District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar defeated Gary Hickey, with 77 percent of the vote. She will be the first female D.A. in the county's history.

Milne: There were two statewide ballot measures - Propositions 41 and 42. How did they do?

Russ: Both passed easily, with more than 60 percent of the vote. 41 allows the state to spend 600 million dollars in bonds to build affordable housing for homeless veterans, and 42 will reauire local governments to comply with open records laws - and says the state doesn't have to reimburse counties for the costs of that compliance.

7:30 A.M. Democrat vs. Democrat In State Senate District 6 

Two Sacramento state assemblymen, Roger Dickinson and Richard Pan, are preparing for a Democrat-versus-Democrat general election battle.

Both are seeking the Senate District 6 seat held by termed-out Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. Dickinson has 40 percent of the vote to Pan's 31 percent.

7:00 A.M. Local Election Results

Sacramento-area voters weighed in on a number of state Assembly races in yesterday's primary election. In the city's District 7, two Sacramento city council members will face off in November. Democrat Kevin McCarty has received 37 percent of the vote to Steve Cohn's 30 percent.

In the city's District 3 Assembly race, Jeff Harris is the top vote-getter, with 26 percent of the race, but Cyril Shah and Ellen Cochrane are in a dead heat for second.

For the race in the City of Sacramento's Council District 3, Jay Schenirer got 62.03 percent of the vote and challenger Ali Cooper received 37.47 percent. 

In the City of Sacramento's Council District 7, Rick Jennings received 50.70 percent of the votes and Julius Cherry got 41.37 percent.

Measure B, a half-cent library tax, passed with 72.93 percent of the votes.

In Davis, both local measures passed.

Measure O, which re-affirms a half-cent sales tax, had 58.5 percent yes votes and 41.5 percent no votes. Measure P, which repeals water rates, had 51.2 percent yes votes and 48.8 percent no votes. 

6:15 A.M. San Joaquin County Races

In San Joaquin County, Assistant District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar leads Gary Hickey, with 77 percent of the vote, with all precincts reporting. Salazar will be the first female D.A. in the county's history.

Also in San Joaquin County, Sheriff Steve Moore held on to his job against a challenge from within his department, Pat Withrow. Moore has 58 percent of the vote with Withrow at 41.73 percent.

6 A.M. --2 of 3 California secession measures defeated

(AP) -- Voters in a far Northern California county have defeated a measure calling for the creation of a 51st state named Jefferson, in a test of whether a secessionist movement has sails in a region long accustomed to feeling overlooked by the rest of California.

Fifty-nine percent of Del Norte County voters rejected the secessionist measure in unofficial returns Tuesday. In Tehama County, a secessionist proposal was leading by 53 percent, with votes continuing to be tallied Wednesday.

A similar but unrelated question on the ballot in Siskiyou County, to rename it the Republic of Jefferson, failed with only 44 percent of voters in favor.

The measures in Del Norte and Tehama counties asked their boards of supervisors to join an effort to form the breakaway state of Jefferson.

5:30 A.M. -- Brown To Seek Record Fourth Term As Governor

Democrat Jerry Brown last night took an easy first step towards a record fourth term as California governor, picking up 54 percent of the primary vote. Brown says he’ll continue to push for fiscal stability.

"Californians appreciate living within our means, managing the people's money, creating a rainy day fund, and just brining a very common sense, get-it-done kind of approach. And at this point, 40 years after I won my first primary for Governor in California, I'm ready to tackle problems...not on a partisan basis, but on the long term basis of building California and making sure we're ready for the future," says Brown.

Brown’s Republican challenger will be former U.S. Treasury official Neel Kashkari, who narrowly finished ahead of tea party Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, 19 percent to 15 percent.

-Ben Adler / Capital Public Radio