Quick Take
In addition to local races, Santa Cruz County voters had a variety of statewide races on their primary ballots. Here's where you'll find the latest on the governor's race, and read on for stories from our content partners at CalMatters, the Associated Press and more.
In addition to local races, Santa Cruz County voters had a variety of statewide races on their primary ballots. Here’s where you’ll find the latest on the governor’s race, and read on for stories from our content partners at CalMatters and the Associated Press, and get the latest tallies from the California Secretary of State here.
State Treasurer Fiona Ma leading in wide-open lieutenant governor race
Democrat Fiona Ma, California’s state treasurer, and Republican Gloria Romero were leading in early returns in the race for lieutenant governor. Ma is leading a crowded field of high-profile Democrats, including Newsom administration official Josh Fryday and former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs. Romero, a longtime former legislator hailing from Los Angeles, is the sole prominent Republican candidate.
Voting ends on Tuesday and voters are choosing between an unusually competitive roster of candidates for the No. 2 job in the state, an office few aspire to without one key disclaimer: It’s a step on their way to another job in politics.
The lieutenant governor wields little power beyond stepping in when the governor leaves the state. But it’s been used as a slingshot to the governor’s office before, by Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Gov. Gray Davis, and seeking the office is often a signal that its officeholder has higher political ambitions.
Read more here from CalMatters.
Kim, Allen lead in California insurance watchdog race
Two Democrats might be duking it out on the November ballot for one of the toughest jobs in the state: insurance commissioner.
Jane Kim, the former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and state Sen. Ben Allen, who’s about to term out of the Legislature, were leading in early returns Tuesday night.
The commissioner is responsible for regulating the nation’s largest property insurance market that includes home and auto, plus health, pet, ride-hailing and life insurance, as well as workers’ compensation.
But the hot topic in the past few years as climate change has caused wildfire risk to rise has been home and fire insurance. The next commissioner will face many challenges that include trying to balance property insurance availability with affordability. Some insurance companies that had stopped renewing policies or writing new ones in the past few years are now taking advantage of new regulations that allow them to use new tools in setting their rates. This generally means premiums will rise as the Insurance Department, headed by the commissioner, is likely to keep approving increases in homeowners’ insurance premiums.
Read more here from CalMatters.
Shaw, Barrera take commanding lead in state superintendent race
In early returns for the state superintendent of public instruction, Sonja Shaw had nearly 25% of votes, followed by Richard Barrera at almost 20%.
Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified school board, made headlines in 2023 when she took on the current superintendent, Tony Thurmond, over the privacy rights of transgender students, and has made anti-LGBTQ policies the focus of her campaign. In the April poll, she was tied with Barrera, a San Diego Unified school board member little known outside San Diego until this year.
Ten candidates — including several legislative veterans — are vying for the opportunity to oversee the state’s 10,000 public K-12 schools during a tumultuous time. Schools are grappling with artificial intelligence in the classroom, budget uncertainty, declining enrollment, lackluster test scores and other challenges.
Read more here from CalMatters.
California Assembly
District 28: Incumbent Gail Pellerin (Democrat) and Carol Pefley (Republican) advance to the November general election, per CalMatters.
District 29: Incumbent Robert Rivas (Democrat) will advance to the November general election, per CalMatters; his opponent remains to be decided.
District 30: Incumbent Dawn Addis (Democrat) will advance to the November general election, per CalMatters; her opponent remains to be decided.
U.S. House of Representatives
District 18: Incumbent Rep. Zoe Lofgren (Democrat) will advance to the November general election, per the Associated Press; her opponent remains to be decided.
District 19: Incumbent Rep. Jimmy Panetta (Democrat) will advance to the November general election, per the Associated Press; his opponent remains to be decided.
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