It's official for winners of countywide offices but another election looms for supervisors
Seven candidates were elected to countywide office, a pair of oil referendums failed and seats for the Board of Supervisors are still up in the air, final results showed Thursday for the June primary.
Turnout reached a little over 40%, which Ventura County Registrar of Voters Mark Lunn called a pretty good result for a midterm primary election. The county's turnout was 7 points above the state average of 33%.
Lunn certified the election a week ahead of the July 7 deadline.
He said the election went "very, very well," adding that there were no "big snafus."
The June 7 primary also marked the first time the county has conducted an election under the full terms of the Voter's Choice Act model, which calls for fewer locations for voters to cast their ballots in person than one with traditional polling places. But vote centers were open 11 days instead of just one and all registered voters were sent ballots in the mail.
The two oil referendums would have upgraded environmental reviews for drilling projects in unincorporated areas of the county, but each failed by about 5 percentage points. Measure A, which applied to coastal areas, failed 52.5% to 47.5%. Measure B, which affected inland areas, lost by almost the same margin — 52.8% to 47.2%.
All the winners of contested countywide offices were elected decisively.
Assessor: Keith Taylor, 74.7% of the vote compared with Bradley Coburn at 25.3%.
Clerk and Recorder: Michelle Ascencion won with 63.4% of the vote. Jeff Hargleroad drew 32.5% and Bruce Boyer 4.1%.
District Attorney: appointed incumbent Erik Nasarenko, 57.4%, over senior prosecutor John Barrick, 42.6%.
Sheriff: Jim Fryhoff, 57% over incumbent Bill Ayub at 43%.
Treasurer-Tax Collector: Sue Horgan, 68%. Her opponent Ron Speakman drew 32%.
Auditor-Controller Jeff Burgh and Superintendent of Schools Cesar Morales were elected without opposition.
Two seats on the Board of Supervisors went to a runoff in the Nov. 8 general election because no candidate captured more than 50% of the vote.
In the race for the Second District seat, Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Claudia Bill-de la Peña faces former legislator Jeff Gorell for the right to represent an area spanning the Conejo Valley and part of Camarillo. Final primary results show the councilwoman with 47.3% and Gorell at 37%. Business owner and conservative advocate Tim McCarthy finished out of the running at 15.7%.
In the Fourth District contest to represent the Moorpark-Simi Valley area, Moorpark Mayor Janice Parvin and college trustee Bernardo Perez advanced to the runoff. Parvin drew 32.8% of the vote to 26.5% for Perez. Candidates Ed Abele at 24% and Dean Kunicki at 16.6% were eliminated.
Winners of countywide posts take office in January unless an incumbent steps down.
Several regional candidates for state and federal office also are expected to advance to the general election.
In one of the most closely watched races in the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrat Julia Brownley and Republican Matt Jacobs are vying for the county's 26th District seat. Democrat Salud Carbajal and Republican Brad Allen are running in the 24th District, which includes a small slice of Ventura County.
In the state Assembly, Democrat Steve Bennett is running against Republican Cole Brocato while Democrat Jacqui Irwin faces Republican Lori Mills.
Kathleen Wilson covers the Ventura County government, including the county health system, politics and social services. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0271.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura County elections: Primary results certified, key races head to runoff
