Gilmore leads Florez in tight Assembly race

Published online on Wednesday, Nov. 05, 2008

Republicans appear on the cusp of winning a South Valley state Assembly seat they have sought for years.

The GOP’s Danny Gilmore, a retired highway patrolman from Hanford, held a 51.7% to 48.3% lead over Democrat Fran Florez, mother of state Sen. Dean Florez, with all precinct votes in Wednesday morning. Gilmore led by more than 2,000 votes.

The Florez campaign was not ready to concede, however, saying as many as 7,000 absentee votes still had to be counted in Kern County, where Florez was claiming 65% of the vote.

“We shall see,” Dean Florez said in an e-mail. Gilmore could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning, but on Tuesday night he said he was "excited with the results so far."

The 30th District — covering Kings County and parts of Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties — is one of the few districts in the state where neither party dominates. With Democrat incumbent Nicole Parra termed out, Republicans aggressively targeted the seat, which they narrowly lost in the last three elections.

The GOP was on defense in at least five other tight Assembly races — none of them in the Valley — as Democrats looked to expand their 48-32 majority in what was considered a tough election climate for Republicans.

The South Valley race took on added intrigue when Parra earlier this year crossed party lines to endorse Gilmore, whom she narrowly defeated two years ago. Parra, D-Hanford, is a long-time rival of Dean Florez, D-Shafter.

Democrats have a nearly 10-point registration edge in the 30th, but the district is filled with so-called “Valleycrats,” moderate-minded voters considered reachable by both parties.

Gilmore, 58, and Florez, 65, both ran as moderates. But neither candidate strayed too far from party ideals on the most pressing issue facing the state, the chronic budget deficit. Gilmore said he favored a spending cap, while Florez said she favored eliminating tax breaks to create more revenue.

Gilmore said he would push for more investment in career technical education. Florez, a member of the California High Speed Rail Authority, touted the proposed high-speed train project.

More than $5.8 million poured into the race — about $45 per registered voter — including $1.2 million in “independent expenditures” from outside interest groups. Gilmore had strong backing from farmers and the Republican party, but Florez had an almost $1 million fundraising lead thanks to last-minute donations from the Democratic Party.