-Editorial
As of one week after the November 5th election, multiple races in Imperial County remain too close to call, according to the latest update from the Imperial County Elections Department. The department is still counting ballots, including provisional ballots, mail-in ballots that arrived postmarked by Election Day, and other outstanding votes.
While many local races have clear outcomes, a few key contests are extremely close, with only a handful of votes separating the candidates. These races include Imperial County Supervisor District 2 and Imperial Irrigation Division 4.
Martha Cardenas-Singh holds a narrow lead over Dihana Garcia-Ruiz, with just 72 votes separating them, as she currently has 3,353 votes (50.54%) compared to Garcia-Ruiz’s 3,281 votes (49.46%).
In the Imperial Irrigation Division 4 race, challenger Lewis Pacheco has taken the lead over incumbent Javier Gonzalez. Gonzalez initially led with a slim margin, but recent updates from the Imperial County Elections Department show Pacheco pulling ahead with 2,627 votes (51.54%) compared to Gonzalez’s 2,470 votes (48.46%).
In the City of El Centro City Council race, with all 29 precincts fully reported, Sylvia Marroquin leads the field of candidates with 3,151 votes, capturing 17.82% of the total votes cast. She is followed closely by Claudia M. Camarena, who has 2,847 votes (16.10%), and John “Marty” Ellett with 2,608 votes (14.75%). Other candidates include Luis Minor with 2,223 votes (12.57%), Edgard Garcia with 2,041 votes (11.54%), Bill Caldwell with 2,009 votes (11.36%), and Jason Jackson with 1,968 votes (11.13%). Antowain Rackley rounds out the field with 838 votes, making up 4.74% of the total. The election saw a 37.45% turnout, with 8,802 of the 23,505 registered voters casting ballots.
In the Calexico City Council race, Victor Legaspi leads with 2,826 votes, representing 19.58% of the total 14,436 votes cast. Close behind, Adriana Marquez has secured 2,699 votes (18.70%), followed by Lorenzo “Lencho” Calderon with 1,779 votes (12.32%). Other candidates include Gilberto Manzanarez with 1,566 votes (10.85%), Joong S. Kim with 1,558 votes (10.79%), and Camilo Garcia with 1,536 votes (10.64%). Raul Ureña has 1,390 votes (9.63%), and Javier Moreno rounds out the field with 1,082 votes (7.50%).
In the two-year term partial term, Diana Nuricumbo leads with 3,126 votes (32.61%), followed by Lisa Nichole Tylenda with 2,711 votes (28.28%), Lee Sepulveda with 1,900 votes (19.82%), and Morris Reisin with 1,848 votes (19.28%).
In the City of Brawley City Council race, with all 9 precincts fully reported, Joseph “JJ” Galvan leads with 1,895 votes (17.91%), followed by John Grass with 1,659 votes (15.68%) and Timothy E. Kelley with 1,617 votes (15.28%). Perry J. Monita has garnered 1,521 votes (14.37%), while Ramon Castro follows with 1,419 votes (13.41%). Other candidates include Ronald Gray II with 862 votes (8.15%), Terry Partida Rodriguez with 775 votes (7.32%), Viridiana Osuna with 642 votes (6.07%), and Joseph Salazar with 192 votes (1.81%). The race saw a voter turnout of 38.82%, with 5,110 of 13,165 registered voters casting ballots.
Jeff Gonzalez is on track to become Imperial Valley’s first Republican State Assemblyman for this district in 18 years, as he leads the race with 51.1% of the vote over Democrat Jose “Joey” Acuña Jr., who has 48.9%.
