ANTIOCH — East Contra Costa County cities are set for a mix of fresh perspectives and familiar faces on their city councils, with some newcomers projected to win seats and a few incumbents expected to hold their positions.
The latest Election Day results, updated late last week by the Contra Costa County Registrar’s Office, show that former Antioch City Manager Ron Bernal has a healthy lead in the city’s mayoral race against incumbent Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe.
With 34,266 votes counted, Bernal received 21,508, or 62.77% of the vote. Hernandez-Thorpe received 10,381 votes, or 30.3%. The third candidate Rakesh Kumar Christian, a retired businessman who ran for mayor in 2020, received 2,377 votes, or 6.94%.
In Districts 2 and 3, a former school principal and former mayor are expected to fill seats on the Antioch City Council.
Former Antioch High School Principal Louie Rocha has so far outpaced businesswoman Dominique King in District 2. Rocha has garnered 4,472, or 59.04%, of the 7,575 votes counted. King was trailing with 3,103 votes.
In the District 3 race, numbers point toward former Antioch Mayor Donald P. Freitas making a comeback to clinch a seat on the council with 4,821 of the 9,568 votes – a 50.39% share – going his way. Freitas’ two other opponents, Addison Peterson, a senior policy manager with California Certified Organic Farmers, received 28.4% of the vote, and Antwon R. Webster, who served in the U.S. Air Force and is currently a member of Antioch’s Board of Administrative Appeals, trailed closely at 21.22%.
The three candidates are trying to replace Councilmember Lori Ogorchock, who is running for city treasurer to replace incumbent Lauren Posada after the council’s redrawing of boundaries moved her out of District 3.
In the race for the treasurer’s post, Ogorchock is trailing behind her opponent Jorge Rojas Jr., a chief financial officer, but is in a close race with Jim Davis, an educator. Rojas has received 11,878 out of 32,097 votes while Ogorchock is ahead of Davis by 65 votes with 10,142 – a 31.6% share.
In Brentwood, Vice Mayor Susannah Meyer is poised to become the next mayor. She has received 15,813 votes, or 61.43%, of the 25,741 counted. Her opponent, Planning Commissioner Gerald Johnson, has received 9,928 votes, or 38.57%.
In Brentwood’s District 1, residents can expect law enforcement officer Faye Maloney to be seated on the council. She leads the race with 63.59% or 3,723 votes out of the 5,855 counted. Her opponent, Planning Commissioner Chairperson Anita Roberts, has received 2,132 votes so far.
District 3 Councilperson Jovita Mendoza is in a close race against Oakland Fire Capt. Brian Oftedal. Mendoza, who was moved out of District 1 after redistricting, secured 4,612, or 52.77%, of the 8,740 votes counted, with Oftedal trailing closely with 4,128 votes, or 47.23%.
In Pittsburg and Oakley, incumbents will likely prevail. Returning to serve their respective cities are Pittsburg Mayor Juan Antonia Banales and Vice Mayor Jelani Killings. Both were running against newcomer Iztaccuauhtli Hector Gonzalez, a small business owner, for two seats on the Pittsburg City Council.
Banales and Killings are seasoned council members who were first elected in 2016. Banales has secured 42.21% of the 27,113 votes counted while fellow Councilmember Killings trailed closely at 36.49%. Gonzalez has received 21.21% of the votes.
Banales thanked Pittsburg residents for their support.
“I am honored to have your vote of confidence to serve you another four years. A heartfelt thank you to all those who supported us through this campaign,” Banales wrote on Facebook on Nov 8.
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Pittsburg Unified School District’s Measure P, which will authorize $140 million in bonds for classroom repairs and safety measures, is headed for approval with 71% of the vote secured. The measure only needs 55% of the vote to be passed.
Measure P will authorize repairs, upgrades, and expansions to schools, fix their roofs, improve safety and security accessibility for students with disabilities, update classrooms and labs for math, reading, writing, and science, and prevent classroom overcrowding.
If approved, property owners will pay $60 for each $100,000 of their property’s assessed value. The bond will generate an average of $9.2 million annually over its lifetime.
In Oakley, Councilman George Fuller was in a close race against classroom teacher Cristina Pena Langley to represent District 5.
Fuller received 1,091, or 41.7%, of the 2,616 votes counted so far, while Langley trailed closely behind at 37.27%. Oleksii Chuiko, who chairs the Planning Commission, had 21.02% of the vote.
As of Nov 7, California Election officials reported an estimated 66.2% of the ballots had been processed. In Contra Costa County, 352,382 ballots had been processed with 191,700 ballots remaining.
The Contra Costa County Registrar’s Office expects to announce the next round of updated results at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.