California primary: Republicans hold leads in local Assembly, U.S. House races

California Assemblyman Thurston “Smitty” Smith and U.S. Rep. Jay Obernolte, both Republicans, continue to hold leads in their primary races.

The 34th Assembly District race on Friday, the last time the race was updated, continued to favor incumbent Smith with 15,022 votes or 30.3% of ballots that had been counted, according to

Going into the election, prognosticators predicted a photo finish with Smith and Republican incumbent Assemblyman Tom Lackey.

Related: California's November ballot takes shape

With 14,466 votes or 29.2%, Lackey is trailing Smith by only 556 votes, with former Victorville Councilwoman Rita Ramirez-Dean, a Democrat, tightening up the race with 13,987 votes or 28.2%

Before the district boundaries were redrawn after the 2020 Census, Smith represented the 33rd District and Lackey District 36.

'Name recognition' factor in Assembly race

Some are chalking up Ramirez-Dean’s strong showing in the Assembly race to strong name recognition and years of support from voters.

In 2018, Ramirez-Dean won a seat on the Victorville City Council in a second-place finish behind Mayor Debra Jones.

During the 2020 race for First District Supervisor, Ramirez-Dean finished second behind winner Paul Cook, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who first won in 2012. He would go on to win three re-elections from 2014 to 2018.

During California's 8th Congressional District primary and general elections in 2016, Ramirez-Dean finished second behind Cook.

“When people vote, they remember candidate names that they’ve seen on the ballot in prior elections,” said Candace Monroe, an Oak Hills resident. “Rita Ramirez has that name recognition much like Smitty, Paul Cook, (Apple Valley Councilman) Scott Nassiff, (Rep.) Jay Obernolte and (San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools) Ted Alejandre.”

Ramirez-Dean was removed from her city seat amid accusations she had not lived in Victorville for more than half a year.

During that time, City Attorney Andre de Bortnowsky presented a report which stated that for nearly nine months Ramirez had received city mail and agendas at her home in Twentynine Palms.

District 34 includes Apple Valley, California City, Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Twentynine Palms, and parts of Hesperia, Highland, Lancaster, Palmdale, parts Victorville, and an uninhabited portion of Adelanto.

The redrawn 33rd District now covers Tulare and Kings counties and a portion of Fresno County. The former District 33 mostly covered the High Desert region.

39th Assembly District

In the Assembly District 39 race, Republican Paul Andre Marsh holds a strong lead with 9,354 votes or 38.4% and will likely face Juan Carrillo, a Democrat who has garnered 30.3% of the vote or 7,390 votes, in the November election.

In a distant third place, Democratic candidate Andrea Rosenthal had 4,985 votes or 20.4% for the race in the  39th District, which includes portions of Adelanto, Hesperia, Lancaster, Palmdale and parts of Victorville.

Assembly District 41

Incumbent Democrat Chris Holden is running unopposed and has garnered 46,100 votes for District 41, which includes portions of Oak Hills, Hesperia, and all of Phelan, Pinon Hills, and Wrightwood.

Before the boundary change, the district encompassed the northern San Gabriel Valley and was centered in Pasadena.

Holden has a long record of public service including many years on the Pasadena City Council and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority.

U.S. House race

U.S. Rep. Jay Obernolte, a Republican, will move on to the November general election with Democratic opponents Derek Marshall and Victorville Councilwoman Blanca Gomez battling for second place.

Obernolte garnered 36,697 votes or 59% and leads Marshall, a community organizer who formerly worked for several of his party’s campaigns, including Sen. Bernie Sanders for president.

Marshall has 23% or 14,136 votes, with Gomez picking up 11,887 or 19% votes in the race for the 23rd District.

The 23rd District was newly created after redistricting and covers most of San Bernardino County, along with parts of Kern and Los Angeles counties.

The top two finishers in each race will face off against each other in the November general election. Provisional and late mailed ballots are still to be counted, so final race results may take several weeks. The next scheduled online voter update by the SBC Registrar of Voters office is 4 p.m. on Monday.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Republicans hold leads in 34th Assembly in California primary