Assembly District 36 primary: Eduardo Garcia, Ian Weeks poised to advance to general election

The race in Assembly District 36, which includes Coachella and Indio, along with Imperial County, has seen incumbent Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, leading over his two challengers.

With most precincts reporting, Garcia has gained 12,643 votes, or 49.1%, according to preliminary results posted online by the California Secretary of State's office.

Republican Ian Weeks, who was endorsed by the state party, appears on track to face Garcia in the general election, as he has gained 10,814 votes, or 42%, putting him well ahead of Democrat Marlon Ware, who has 8.8% of the vote.

In this legislative race, the top two finishers in the primary election — regardless of party — will advance to the state's general election Nov. 8.

Election night vote counting is complete but results are not final, according to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters. Approximately 150,000 vote-by-mail and 2,000 provisional ballots still must be processed. Ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day also remain to be counted. The updated results are expected at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The Secretary of State must certify results by July 15.

Garcia, who is seeking a fifth term in the Assembly, is running in a redrawn district that looks slightly different from the one he currently represents, following California’s redistricting process that concluded in late 2021. The district still includes Coachella, Indio and all of Imperial County, but has lost Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs, which now fall into Assembly District 47.

36th Assembly District: Candidates discuss views on inflation, Salton Sea, abortion rights

Garcia, who was first elected to the Assembly in 2014 after serving as mayor of Coachella, decided to seek another term in the Legislature after weighing a run for Congress in the east valley.

The lawmaker previously told The Desert Sun that he wants to remain in the Legislature to build on the work he's done on issues such as lithium development in the Salton Sea and infrastructure funding in the eastern Coachella Valley.

In a statement Tuesday night, Garcia said the preliminary results appear "favorable."

"We haven't stopped working," Garcia said. "We remain focused on the legislative work in front of us and ensuring that we deliver on our region's priorities. We thank voters for their continued trust and confidence in us and our track record."

Weeks, a financial planner who lives in Hemet, has gained the endorsement of the California Republican Party. He told The Desert Sun on Wednesday that he was pleased to be running a close race in the district, where there are roughly 40,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.

"The general consensus seems to be that our performance is better than a lot of people expected," Weeks said. "I think people inside of our circles are not as surprised, but I think there are a lot of folks who probably are surprised tonight, Eduardo Garcia probably not least of them."

After entering the race on the final day of the filing period in March, Weeks said his campaign has "just started," adding he is excited to build on the momentum heading into November. During his campaign, Weeks has advocated for policies to "push back on new and existing policies that make everything from daily utilities like water, fuel, and electricity some of the highest rates in the country."

"I've been talking to all these different groups, and the general consensus is they feel like Sacramento is out of touch," Weeks said. "They feel, in many cases, they are not being listened to ... When gas is $6, $7 a gallon, that's crushing them."

Ware, a Marine veteran and business professor at Azusa Pacific University, is running without any major endorsements or fundraising. He recently told The Desert Sun that he thinks the Legislature "should prioritize and continue its work in making housing affordable" by protecting family homebuyers form "investor area takeovers."

Garcia holds a huge financial advantage over the two challengers, with more than $446,000 in his campaign account as of late May. Meanwhile, Weeks' campaign has raised roughly $21,000 since launching his campaign, and Ware has not reported any contributions with the California Secretary of State's office.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: California primary election results: Assembly District 36 race