Update: Gallegos leads in Madera mayoral race by 258 votes. Only 50 are left to count
Cece Gallegos is leading Santos Garcia in Madera’s mayoral race by 258 votes, according to a Wednesday election update that also shows only a few ballots remain unprocessed countywide. The update also shows there are 262 challenged ballots in the county, though it’s unclear how many of those belong to city voters.
The numbers still indicate that Gallegos, District 1 Madera City Councilmember, is most likely to win the mayoral race that drew four candidates including incumbent Garcia. He has trailed Gallegos closely since the first votes were reported on Election Night. The two others in the race, government revenue consultant Wayne Padilla and Madera Unified Trustee Lucy Salazar, have trailed further behind from the start.
As of Wednesday, Gallegos had 5,280 votes, or 35.18%, Garcia had 5,022 votes, or 33.46%, Padilla had 2,680 votes, or 17.86%, and Salazar had 2,026 votes, or 13.5%.
Neither Gallegos nor Garcia could immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday. Gallegos was first elected to the City Council in 2016. Garcia was first elected to the council in 2018 and then mayor in 2020.
The winner of this race will preside over a City Council that in recent years has planned significant growth for the town of about 66,000 residents. A large part of the city’s residential expansion is planned for Gallegos’ District 1 in the northwestern region of the city, which is the future site of a master-planned community that could add more than 10,000 homes.
Her success in this race comes despite having spent less on her campaign than each of the other three candidates as of late October. She is also coming off an election loss in March, when she ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Madera County Board of Supervisors.
Incumbents ahead in City Council races
In District 4 and District 6, re-election of the incumbents is likely.
On Wednesday, District 4 City Councilmember Anita Evans had 882 votes, or 62.42%, while challenger Derek Robinson had 531 votes, or 37.58%. Evans unseated Robinson in 2020 with more than 74% of the vote. In this year’s election, Evans has maintained more than 60% of the vote since Election Night.
Evans told The Bee last week that she was waiting until the last vote is processed to make any official statement.
She is known in Madera as an active community member who has helped organize Black History Month and Juneteenth events. Evans campaigned on the accomplishment of road upgrades and traffic safety projects in District 4, and also noted the improvement of the Fresno River, a place where homeless people often camp, which she said is much cleaner than it was four years ago.
On Wednesday, District 6 City Councilmember Artemio Villegas had 1,001 votes, or 52.05%, and challenger John Jasper had 922 votes, or 47.95%. Jasper took an early lead in the District 4 race on Election Night, though it remained tight in the following days.
By Nov. 8, Villegas had taken a lead of only a few dozen votes. Incumbent Villegas has maintained that lead since.
He told The Bee on Wednesday that he waiting for the final vote to be counted in Madera County.
He is a retired farmworker who was elected to the Madera City Council in District 6 in 2020. Jasper is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and law enforcement officer.
This story was originally published November 20, 2024 at 5:01 PM.
