Election results: Here’s who’s leading in local races around the Sacramento region

Sacramento-area residents on Tuesday had numerous opportunities to voice how they believe local governmental bodies should be run in the coming years as they cast ballots in California’s primary election.

Races ranged from highly consequential contests, such as the closely watched Sacramento mayoral face-off, to county supervisor and school board elections that traditionally have low voter turnout. Here’s what the early returns are showing as of late Tuesday night:

Sacramento County Office of Education

Voters had the chance to consider two seats on the Sacramento County Office of Education, the board that oversees the county’s 14 school districts and its 260,000 pupils.

One candidate in the race to represent northeast Sacramento County communities leaped ahead in a crowded field. Vanessa Caigoy notched about 36% of votes, surpassing candidates Linda Christopher-Dewilde (23%), Moe Sarama (18%), Jay Martinez (17%) and Usman Haider (6%).

A 4th District winner in November’s election would represent residents within San Juan Unified School District and small portions of the Twin Rivers and Folsom Cordova Unified school districts. The SCOE district spans communities of Orangevale, Citrus Heights, Fair Oaks, Gold River and portions of Carmichael, Folsom and Foothill Farms, according to SCOE.

Caigoy works as a managing director at the California Charter Schools Association, leading the development and execution of communications and marketing initiatives.

The area is currently represented by Joanne Ahola, whose term expires in June. Ahola, who serves as the senior director of operations at the California Montessori Project, threw her support behind Caigoy.

The incumbent of a SCOE seat spanning parts of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano counties — making it the largest SCOE district — pushed well ahead of her opponent.

Heather Davis, the wife of former Elk Grove mayor Gary Davis, led results Tuesday in Sacramento County with about 80% of votes. Trailing behind was her opponent Shazleen Khan, securing about 20% of ballots.

In Yolo and Solano counties, Davis garnered about 77% and 80% of the vote, respectively.

Davis has represented major portions of the Elk Grove Unified School District and all of Archoe Union, Galt Joint Union Elementary, Galt Joint Union High and the River Delta Unified school districts.

Davis is seeking her third four-year term after she was elected in 2016 to the 6th District seat.

Sacramento Superior Court

In the race for a seat in Sacramento Superior Court, Deputy District Attorney Amy Holliday was the likely winner in a three-way race with Noel Calvillo, an administrative law judge with the state’s social services department, and Bobby Luna, who runs a family law practice and teaches at McGeorge School of Law.

Holliday in early returns had 60% of the vote to Calvillo’s 22% and Luna’s 18%.

Twin Rivers Unified School District

A narrow margin separated two Twin Rivers Unified School District seat hopefuls, according to Tuesday’s results.

Former Twin Rivers Unified educator Sascha Vogt garnered about 52% of the vote over Linda Fowler, a former board trustee.

Placer County

In Placer County, three county supervisor positions were up for grabs, including an open seat in the 1st District vacated by Bonnie Gore.

In the 1st District, Mike Murray led the early results with 41%, well ahead of opponents county planning commissioner Anthony Demattei (30%) and former Rocklin City Councilman Dave Butler (29%). The latter had a sizable warchest compared to Murray, according to campaign finance reports.

Murray, a Placer County Republican Party vice chair, also works as political and outreach director at the American Council, a Placer County-based Christian advocacy group.

In the 4th and 5th Districts, incumbents easily sailed into the lead in early results.

Supervisor Suzanne Jones — who represents Granite Bay, Loomis and Penryn — is the likely winner in her first re-election campaign, garnering nearly 63% of the vote in early returns and outpacing her second-place rival, former planning commissioner and firefighter Jeff Moss, 3-1.

Moss had 24% of the early returns and Karen Henson, a Realtor from Granite Bay, had 13% of ballots counted.

Supervisor Cindy Gustafson was leading in her campaign for re-election in the 5th. The 40-year resident of Tahoe’s north shore garnered 49% of the early returns, well ahead of Wayne Nader (25%) and outgoing Supervisor Jim Holmes (19%), who was drawn out of his seat in the latest redistricting update.

The only other local race for Placer County came for voters in Loomis, who were asked in Measure A whether the town clerk should be appointed instead of elected. The move, which city officials say would save about $600 a year and a little more during each election, was ahead by one percentage point (50.5% to 49.5%) in the first batch of returns counted.

Placer County election officials say that the next result updates will come on Fridays and Tuesdays until all ballots are counted.

Yolo County

There were no tight races for the Yolo County Board of Supervisors as of Tuesday night’s ballot returns.

Incumbent Mary Sandy holds a lead over challenger Xóchitl Rodriguez Murillo, 58% to 42%, in the 3rd District race. The district represents the northern area of West Sacramento and large portions of Woodland.

Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Sandy to the position last year; she succeeded her husband, Gary Sandy, who died last August from complications from a treatment for liver cancer. Mary Sandy is Yolo County’s first woman supervisor since 2010.

Sheila Allen, deputy to outgoing 4th District Supervisor Jim Provenza, led with 61% of the vote for that district, which includes parts of Davis and nearby unincorporated areas. Antonio De Loera-Brust, a labor organizer, had 36% of the vote; local climate advocate NJ Mvondo had 4%. Provenza is retiring after four terms on the Board of Supervisors.

Incumbent Angel Barajas has a wide lead in the 5th District with 71% of the vote vs. challenger Paul Bridge (29%) for a district that includes north Woodland and the communities of Knights Landing, Yolo, Madison, Esparto and Capay Valley.

Oscar Villegas ran unopposed for re-election to the 1st District, made up of most of West Sacramento and the town of Clarksburg.

Woodland voters appear on track to soundly reject a flood control measure, while the renewal of a parcel tax to generate funding for Davis Joint Unified School District was sitting very close to the supermajority required to pass.

Measure M, which would support allowing Woodland to accept federal and state contributions of up to $300 million to fund city flood control projects, was failing as of Tuesday night’s returns with 70% voting to reject it and just 30% voting in favor.

Measure N, which would renew an existing tax of $768 per parcel to generate an estimated $11.7 million to the Davis school district, had 66.9% voting yes. The measure requires a two-thirds vote to pass.

Emily MacDonald, a board trustee for the Woodland Joint Unified High School District, is on track to be recalled during her first term. Ballot returns as of Tuesday showed 63% of voters supporting the recall of MacDonald, with 37% voting to keep her on the school board.

Woodland parents organized the recall effort after MacDonald, during a June school board meeting discussing an LGBTQ+ Pride Month resolution, referred to “transgenderism” as a “social contagion.”

“It shows that our community truly supports all students,” Karen Bayne, who helped organize the recall, said Tuesday night, “and will vote accordingly.”

MacDonald was voted into the four-year term in 2022.

Yolo County’s next update to election results is set for 4 p.m. Friday.

El Dorado County

Candidates are vying for three of El Dorado County’s five Board of Supervisor seats.

Small business owner Greg Ferrero led the 1st District contest with 64% of the vote. Margaret Fortune, an education nonprofit leader, trailed with 29% of the vote. Linda Campbell had 7%. Supervisor John Hidahl termed out of the seat, which covers the western reaches of the county including El Dorado Hills.

In the 2nd District, incumbent George Turnboo led with 55% of the vote. Business consultant Kevin W. McCarty had 27% of the vote. Chris Cockrell, formerly on the county’s Veteran Affairs Commission, had 18% as of Tuesday night. The district includes Cameron Park, Somerset and Grizzly Flats.

Brian Veerkamp was holding onto 53% of the vote as incumbent for the 3rd District. Environmentalist and agriculture advocate Lexi Boeger had 32%, Gary Martin 10% and Brian DeBerry 5%. The district is in the central county and includes Placerville as well as the towns of Diamond Springs, Camino and El Dorado.

The Bee’s Mathew Miranda, Jenavieve Hatch and Daniel Hunt contributed to this story.