Parra edges Gilmore in tight race for Assembly

Battle was ugly and expensive, but Kern Co. votes deliver a victory.

Published online on Wednesday, Nov. 08, 2006

Two-time Democratic incumbent Nicole Parra inched ahead in her state Assembly race around midnight and all but declared victory early this morning in the most tightly contested race for a Valley legislator.

She appeared in danger of losing her seat Tuesday night as her opponent, Danny Gilmore, clung to a slight lead in the 30th District for several hours.

But Parra zipped ahead as results rolled in from her home county of Kern. Her confidence was buoyed around 1 a.m. with 96% of the district's precincts reporting.

"To be up by 1,500 votes, I feel very confident," she said by phone from a hotel in her hometown of Bakersfield. "Another two years. And I'm going to enjoy every single day, I'll tell you."

The Parra-Gilmore race was one of only a handful in the California Legislature that were in doubt on Election Day.

Of the seven races with ties to the central San Joaquin Valley — four in the Assembly and three in the Senate — the 30th District battle was more competitive than the rest.

A half-hour before Parra made her declaration, Gilmore said that he was still "cautiously optimistic," adding that "things can change." He spent the evening with about 100 friends, family and supporters on the third floor of the Old Courthouse in Hanford's town square.

"I think it's going to be pretty close," he said. "If I were to win this race — this might be overstating it — it would be a historical event."

The 56-year-old Republican is a former California Highway Patrol commander from Hanford who was making his political debut.

It was Parra's performance in Kern County — she got 10,419 votes to Gilmore's 5,522 — that put her over the top. But she was behind for most of the night before those votes were tallied.

"I was definitely wondering why it took so long," Parra said. "Where were the Kern County votes?"

The district runs from Bakersfield in the south through all of Kings County, western Tulare County and southern Fresno County.

The race got ugly — and expensive. Each candidate accused the other of "going negative" in radio and television advertisements. Parra spent more than $1.4 million, compared to $725,000 by Gilmore, according to campaign reports filed Oct. 26.

"This has been a tough process," Gilmore said. "She's a tough candidate — make no mistake about it."

Parra, 36, clawed her way to victory in her first election for state Assembly in 2002, winning by just 266 votes. Then she beat the same opponent two years later.

Here's a look at other races with links to the Valley:

In the 12th Senate District, Merced Republican Jeff Denham held a commanding lead over George "Wiley" Nickel, a Dos Palos Democrat.

Shortly before 10 p.m., Denham called himself the winner.

"The results look fantastic," he said. "I'm pretty confident that I will win re-election tonight."

Four years ago in this Democrat-heavy district, Denham, 39, narrowly beat Rusty Areias, a former Assembly member, by fewer than 2,000 votes. He runs Denham Plastics, which makes containers for the agriculture industry.

Nickel, 30, is a descendant of a San Joaquin Valley pioneer who quit his new job as a Merced County prosecutor to run for office.

In the 29th Assembly District, Clovis Republican Mike Villines held a cozy lead over his three opponents.

The other candidates did not present much of a challenge for the 39-year-old incumbent, a staunch conservative in one of the state's most Republican districts.

In the 14th Senate District, Modesto Republican Dave Cogdill also appeared to be cruising to an easy win.

He was the overwhelming favorite to replace Republican Chuck Poochigian, facing only token opposition from Oakdale Democrat Wesley Firch, an 84-year-old retired accountant.

Cogdill, 55, ran in the 14th after terming out of the state Assembly, where he has served since 2000.

Two other Valley candidates, Shafter Democrat Dean Florez and Fresno Democrat Juan Arambula, were unopposed in the 16th Senate District and 31st Assembly District, respectively.