Soria leads challenger Garcia Rose in CA Assembly District 27 re-election bid
Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, D-Fresno, appears to have bounced back from a second-place finish in the March primary, with a lead over her Republican challenger in her re-election bid to represent the California Assembly’s 27th District.
Unofficial tallies reported by the California Secretary of State’s Office after midnight Wednesday show Soria with 52.3% of the vote, ahead of Joanna Garcia Rose of Atwater at 47.7% with all 766 precincts throughout the district reported.
But there are plenty of votes yet to be counted before a final confirmed result is certified, which could take up to four weeks after Election Day.
The 27th Assembly District includes parts of Fresno, Madera and Merced counties. Cities within the district include parts of the cities of Fresno, Madera and Merced, along with Delhi, Livingston, Atwater, Chowchilla, Los Baños, Kerman, Firebaugh, Dos Palos, San Joaquín, Mendota and Coalinga.
The same two candidates were featured in the March primary, when Garcia Rose edged out Soria for the top spot, 50.9% to 49.1%. The two were separated by about 1,000 votes. That was despite Democrats holding a sizable advantage in voter registration across the district. Democrats account for 41.2% of registered voters, compared to 28.5% for Republicans and 27.5% who declare no party preference.
Soria was a two-term member of the Fresno City Council when she defeated former Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin in 2022 to win the Assembly seat. Early in her first two-year term in the Legislature, Soria’s district was confronted by the abrupt closure of Madera Community Hospital and a flooding disaster in the rural Merced County town of Planada.
Soria authored legislation to create the state’s Distressed Hospital Loan Fund as a means of helping to reopen the Madera hospital and aid other financially struggling California hospitals. She also lobbied for $20 million in the state budget in flood relief for Planada.
Garcia Rose told The Bee on Tuesday night that she expects the race to remain close until more votes are counted by each of the counties involved.
“In the primary, I was behind by four points early, then behind by two points, and then in the morning when I got up, I look at the results and said, ‘Oh, I’m ahead now?’” Garcia Rose said.
Garcia Rose, who is an auditor, said she was inspired to run for the Assembly seat after watching the struggles that her husband’s Merced business encountered during the COVID-19 pandemic. She ran a campaign based on cutting red tape for businesses, overhauling outdated laws and regulations, and holding Sacramento politicians accountable.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 8:36 PM.
