Election night gatherings and celebrations were commonplace across the golden state Tuesday evening and Folsom was no exception as local candidates and voters alike came together at various locations across the city to watch the early results be unveiled and, in some cases, celebrate the signs of early success in the numbers in the 2024 Primary Election.
Such was the case at the Bacchus House Bistro in Folsom, were many members of the Folsom Community as well as current city and local leaders joined in the election night gathering for three local candidates. The standing room only event included local candidates Rosario Rodriguez for Sacramento County Supervisor District 4, Assemblyman Josh Hoover and County Board of Education candidate Jay Martinez of nearby Orangevale.
Just before 8:15 p.m. the trio of local candidates gathered around the computer and looked to their mobile devices to see the first round of results come through as precincts began to report the early numbers that are always far from final, but often an indicator of who will be the top contenders for a run off or in a strong position to secure their respective seats.
Rodriguez, is a former mayor of Folsom and current city council member who is running for the seat being vacated by retiring longtime County Supervisor Sue Frost, who endorsed Rodriguez simultaneously with her retirement announcement last year. Bacchus House erupted in cheers as the first report showed Rodriguez grabbing 48% of the vote over Citrus Heights Mayor Bret Daniels and fellow Folsom resident Braden Murphy. In this race the top two vote earners will face off in November, unless a candidate takes 50% of the vote “plus one,” in the primary.
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As results continued to update throughout the evening, Rodriguez maintained the 48% margin with the last report for the night being posted at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday where she remains Wednesday morning with a total vote count of 11,195 thus far. Daniels holds 29% of the votes so far with 6,905 being reported.
Murphy has garnered 5,147 votes so far, putting him at the 22% mark in the race. The early numbers will remain as such until March 8 at 4:15 p.m. which is the next scheduled update to be released by the Sacramento County Elections office as final counts from those voting in person Tuesday continue to be tallied and the processing of mail in ballots continues.
As of Tuesday night, Sacramento County elections were reporting voter turnout at 13% with 118,205 ballots counted so far in a county that has 868,750 registered voters to date. Sacramento County’s 4th District includes the communities of Citrus Heights, Folsom, Orangevale, Antelope, North Highlands, Rio Linda, Elverta, and Rancho Murieta.
“I am feeling fantastic, a 48 percent start is a great place to be. Considering this is my first time running for Sacramento County Supervisor. My team has worked so hard and I am really pleased where we are at right now.”
While Tuesday’s election was the first for Rodriguez beyond that of her previous city council campaigns, it was the second rodeo for Republican Assemblyman Hoover who was elected in November of 2022 to represent California’s 7th Assembly District. District 7 includes the cities of Citrus Heights, Folsom, and Rancho Cordova and the unincorporated communities of Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Foothill Farms, Gold River, Mather, McClellan Park, North Highlands, Orangevale, and Rosemont.
Hoover’s early numbers came in near the 50% mark as well Tuesday night. The latest statewide election results were released shortly after 3:00 am. On Wednesday. Those numbers show Hoover leading the fight with 51.9% of the vote with 20,918 votes to his name. Hoover’s closest contender is Porsche Middleton who leads the battle as the Democratic candidate on the November ballot.
Middleton held 30.2% of the vote with 12,142 ballots tallied early Wednesday morning. Folsom resident, former Vice Mayor and current city councilmember YK Chalamcherla held 17.9% of the vote, or 7,209 votes to his name as of early Wednesday.
“I think voter turnout is pretty low so far so we will see what the full numbers end up being but it’s fantastic to know that voters are responding to what we are doing,” said Hoover. “At the end of the day I am here to represent the entire community whether you are a democrat, an independent or a republican I want to be your voice of Sacramento and that is what we are going to keep doing.”
For Martinez, the early numbers were not as strong as the others at the local gathering in his run for Sacramento County Board of Education’s Area 4 seat. At last report, Vanessa Caigoy was the top vote earner with 36% of the vote over Linda Christopher-DeWilde with 22%, and Murad “Moe” Sarama who was tied with Martinez with 17% each.
The results in this article are based on early election data reported at the dates and times detailed above. While this Folsom Times article highlights results of the aforementioned candidates that are residents local to the city of Folsom, there are numerous other races of interest across the county and the state with updates forthcoming. To check on the latest results of all Sacramento County elections visit the official county elections results page HERE. For up to date statewide elections visit here .
Bookmark www.folsomtimes.com and check back as we will continue to provide local election results in our readership area with updates to this posting.
