Election results: Fresno’s Soria, Merced’s Pazin headed to November in Assembly race
Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria took control of the race to represent a sprawling new California Assembly district on election night, likely cementing a spot in the November general election against former Merced County sheriff Mark Pazin.
The newly drawn Assembly District 27 covers Fresno, Madera and Merced counties and includes the cities of Merced and Madera and a part of western Fresno.
In majority but not completed returns updated early Wednesday, Soria had established a lead of 10,473 votes (42%) compared to Pazin’s 8,281 votes (33.2%), Amanda Fleming at 3,773 votes (15.1%) and Mike Karbassi with 2,386 votes (9.6%).
The top two vote-getters regardless of party affiliation advance to November. Soria and fellow Fresno City Councilmember Karbassi are Democrats. Pazin and Fleming of Firebaugh, who helps run her family-owned farm equipment store, were the two Republicans in the race.
“We’re super-excited about the early results,” Soria said Tuesday night. “It’s a testament to our team building a coalition of supporters. But we know our work is not done yet.
“I spent the last 7 1/2 years doing some great work in parts of this district as it relates to housing, health care, investing in neighborhoods that were being left behind. I want to take that advocacy to the next level and help more families.”
Poverty is a main problem in the district. The percentage of people in poverty ranges from 14.1% in Madera County to 16.3% in Merced County to 17.1% in Fresno County.
Soria is finishing her second city council term. Karbassi was trying to make a political leap in the middle of his first term but apparently fought an uphill battle. He filed a lawsuit Monday against Soria alleging defamation in campaign literature implying he was a criminal.
While it was unclear whether such campaign literature impacted Karbassi’s chances in the race, it was quite certain that the second-place spot belonged to Pazin, the Merced County sheriff from 2003-13. During the campaign he identified reducing taxes, finding a water supply solution for Valley farmers, fully funding police and fire departments and developing more shelter for homeless people as priorities.
“We’re cautiously optimistic,” Pazin said Tuesday night. “The numbers are trending our way to get into the general election.
“We will stay focused and continue to work hard.”
A statistic to watch: Soria outpolled Pazin in Merced County by six points in early returns. Also, total votes favored the Democrats.
The top two vote-getters reflected the need to have districtwide appeal: Soria joined state Sen. Anna Caballero at a Merced election night party while Pazin was at an event at the Fresno Deputy Sheriff’s Association in downtown Fresno.
Other Assembly races
District 31: Democrat incumbent Joaquin Arambula of Fresno had a sizable lead with 56.9% and is headed to a November race against Republican Dolce Misol Calandra who had 30.4% of the early returns in a four-candidate race.
District 33: Republican incumbent Devon Mathis of Visalia owned a large lead on Democrat candidates Jose Sigala and Ruben Macareno. Mathis had 61.5%, followed by Sigala at 20.7% and Macareno with 17.8% — too close to call the November challenger.
Unopposed: Sitting Assemblymembers Jim Patterson (R-Fresno) in the 8th District and Vince Fong (R-Bakersfield) in the 32nd District didn’t have challengers.
State Senate races
District 4: None of the eight candidates claimed more than 25% of the cast votes, with Democrats Tim Robertson (23.7%) and Marie Alvarado-Gil (20.3%) leading. Republican George Radanovich, the former Congressman, was third with 17%.
District 12: Republican incumbent Shannon Grove led Democrat candidate Susanne Gundy 63.2% to 36.8%. They’ll run again in November.
District 14: Anna Caballero, the Democrat incumbent, had a majority lead with 54.8% compared to Republican Amnon Shor with 38.1% and Democrat Paulina Miranda at 7.1%.
District 16: David Shepard, a Republican, was at 41.0.% and Democrat Melissa Hurtado was at 32%). None of the other three candidates had recorded more than 15% of the votes.
This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 8:37 PM.
