Free Republic

“With 100% of precincts reporting, the Hanford-area grower holds a nearly 6,000 vote lead over Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez in the contentious 16th State Senate race,” 23 ABC News in Bakersfield just reported. The California Secretary of State is reporting Vidak has 54 percent of the vote, with a total of 39,085 votes. Perez has 46 percent of the vote, with a total of 33,252 votes. Kern County and Fresno County were where the majority of the provisional ballots appeared in the special election. In yesterday’s election, Kern County reported 48.1 percent for Vidak, and 58.9 percent for Perez....

Voters in four counties will be going back to the polls Tuesday to finally settle the contentious and closely watched 16th Senate District special election battle. They're choosing between Republican farmer Andy Vidak and Democrat Leticia Perez, a Kern County supervisor, to replace former state Sen. Michael Rubio, who resigned in February to take a job with Chevron. Print Only 115 votes kept Vidak from winning the seat outright in the May primary election. In fact, Perez conceded the race the day after Election Day.

For three days after the May 23 special election to fill a vacant Valley-based state Senate seat, giddy Republicans were calling Hanford cherry farmer Andy Vidak "senator-elect." Then came news that an Election Day ballot surge by his rival, Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez, had forced a runoff, and her Democratic Party supporters dubbed her the "comeback kid." Now, Perez and Vidak — the top two finishers in the five-person primary — will square off in a one-on-one midsummer showdown for the 16th District state Senate seat, which became vacant when Bakersfield Democrat Michael Rubio resigned in February to take...