Election results: Close primary signals tight race coming in Assembly District 36

Early results released on Tuesday night indicate that Republican Jeff Gonzalez is leading the large field of primary contenders hoping to succeed long-serving Democratic Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia. Several Democratic contenders are still fighting for a slot to move on to the general election. Gonzalez was leading the contest to represent Assembly District 36, which includes the eastern Coachella Valley, with 9,034 votes, or 32.7% of the more than 27,000 ballots cast, according to figures that were put up on the California Secretary of State's website on Tuesday night. A number of Democratic contenders were still in the running to move on to the November election, with more ballots yet to be counted. Jose "Joey" Acuña Jr. came in second with 5,143 votes, or 18.6%, followed closely by Edgard Garcia with 4,584 votes, or 16.6%... Together, the two Republican contenders received 43% of the vote, while the five Democratic candidates received 57%. After Garcia, a Democrat from Coachella who was first elected to the California Legislature in 2014, announced late last year that he would not run for office again, citing his desire to spend more time with his children after years of traveling to Sacramento, a crowded field of candidates developed. His declaration was made a few days after the incumbents' deadline for reelection filings had passed. Get ready for the polls by using our voter guide to compare the positions of the presidential candidates on important issues. Garcia has represented Assembly District 36, which covers Coachella, Indio, the remainder of the eastern Coachella Valley, and eastern Riverside County all the way to the Arizona border, since the most recent redistricting process in California. Along with all of Imperial County and a small portion of eastern San Bernardino County, the district is very expansive. With 53.4% of the vote, Garcia defeated Republican Ian Weeks, a candidate in this year's 25th Congressional District, to win reelection in 2022. Seven candidates in total — five Democrats and two Republicans — ran in the primary. Under California's voting system, the top two finishers in the primary, regardless of party, will advance to the November general election. The candidates The candidate with Garcia's backing is Acuña, a Democrat who's served as a trustee on the Coachella Valley Unified School District Board of Education since 2014, after previously serving on the board from 1992 to 2000. Along with Garcia, several other Riverside County elected officials, including Supervisor V. Manuel Perez and Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez, have endorsed Acuña. Democrat Waymond Fermon, who has been on the Indio City Council since 2018, is another contender from the valley. He was the first Black mayor of Indio in 2022, when the city held annual leadership rotations. In addition, Fermon is employed at Imperial County's Calipatria State Prison as a correctional officer. In the early results on Tuesday night, Fermon had 2,363 votes, or 8.5% of the total. Of the two Republican contenders for the Assembly seat, conservatives such as U.S. Representative Ken Calvert, R-Corona, a number of Republican members of the California Legislature, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco have endorsed Gonzalez, an Indio businessman and former Marine. Prior to the most recent round of redistricting, Assembly District 56 was represented by Gonzalez, who had previously challenged Garcia in 2018. He proceeded to the general election, but Garcia received 64.8% of the vote, easily defeating him with 35.2% of the vote. Voter guiide:Your Guide to the 2024 Elections Tomas Oliva, a Democrat and current member of the El Centro City Council since 2018, is vying for the position from his Imperial County base. In addition, Oliva works for U.S. Representative Raul Ruiz, D-Indio, a senior field representative whose congressional district includes a large portion of Assembly District 36. (This year, Ruiz is running for reelection.) The preliminary results released on Tuesday night showed that Oliva had gained 2,155 votes, or 7.8%. Kalin Morse is a Westmoreland-based nonprofit director and the only other Republican running. Tuesday night's preliminary results revealed that Morse had received 2,819 votes, or 10.2%. As of Tuesday night, attorney Garcia, who is now in third place, has served on the El Centro City Council since 2015. Garcia has additionally In the preliminary returns on Tuesday night, Democrat Eric Rodriguez—who has served on the Central Union High School District Board of Trustees in El Centro since 2020—acquired 1,563 votes. Rodriguez is employed with Imperial County Child Protective Services in the Emergency Response Unit. He was previously a police officer for the city of El Centro. According to data on voter registration, 43.8% of registered voters in the Assembly district are Democrats, and roughly 27.3% are Republicans. 21.3% of its registered voters are not sure which party they prefer.