Latest news with #32ndDistrict
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Primaries topple at least two Assembly incumbents — and more could follow
Assembly candidate Katie Brennan celebrates with running mate Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, center, and Jersey City Councilman James Solmon after Brennan declared victory in the 32nd District's Assembly race on June 10, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Ben Ackman/Jersey City Times) At least two sitting members of the Assembly appear to have lost their reelection campaigns Tuesday, though it may take days yet to determine which lawmakers will see their tenures end in January. Democratic incumbents face defeat in the 28th and 31st districts, with the chance of another loss in the 32nd, according to election results that remain preliminary. So far, only one incumbent, Assemblywoman Garnett Hall (D-Essex), appears certain to lose her seat in the 28th District after a single term in office. Three Democrats vied for two spots on the November ballot in this largely Democratic district. Hall sought a second term under gubernatorial hopeful Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop's 'Democrats for Change' slogan after Essex County Democrats backed Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex) and former assistant community affairs commissioner Chigozie Onyem over Hall. Hall trails Onyem by 3,563 votes, about 12 points, with nearly 98% of the 28th District's votes reported. The gap between Hall and the two candidates currently in the lead is insurmountable. In the Hudson County-based 31st District, four Democrats vied for two slots, with the incumbent Assembly members — William Sampson and Barbara McCann Stamato — running against one another on opposite slates. Hudson County Commissioner Jerry Walker, who ran with Sampson, appears certain to ascend to the Legislature, running in first place with 8,453 votes with about 96% of the district's votes counted. And Sampson narrowly leads McCann Stamato 7,161 to 6,853, with Bayonne Councilwoman Jacqueline Weimmer trailing the pack with 6,853 votes. 'We still have an election to go on in November, and we want to wipe Republicans out,' Walker said at a victory party Tuesday. 'And look, I'm happy to say this right here: Steven Fulop, you lost.' Walker and Sampson had the backing of the Hudson County Democratic Party. McCann Stamato and Weimmer ran under a ticket backed by Fulop. Whoever ends up in second place in this contest, one of the 31st District's incumbents won't return to Trenton next year. In the Hudson-based 32nd District, six Democrats vying for two seats were on Tuesday's ballot. Two candidates ran with the backing of Hudson's Democratic Party, two ran on Fulop's slate, and two ran solo. Former New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency chief of staff Katie Brennan leads the pack with 6,762 votes. Her running mate, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, has a narrow edge over Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez (D-Hudson), leading Ramirez 6,535 to 6,462. 'We did it. We really did it. We just showed the whole state that the people can beat the party bosses,' Brennan said in a statement Tuesday night. 'This is what democracy looks like when it's not rigged by political machines.' The district also hosts what appears to be the roundest defeat of party-backed Assembly candidates in the state. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in that contest yet. Hoboken Public Library director Jennie Pu and Jersey City buildings director Crystal Fonseca — who were backed by Hudson Democrats — are in fifth and sixth place with 5,152 and 4,964 votes, respectively. Jersey City Councilman Yousef Saleh, who ran with Ramirez on Fulop's slate, is in fourth place with 5,165 votes. Pu, Fonseca, and Saleh face insurmountable gaps. In the 35th District, which represents parts of Bergen and Passaic counties, independent Democrat Newark Corporation Counsel Kenyatta Stewart appears to have won the nomination with 7,298 votes due to a groundswell of support in the Passaic County portions of the district. 'Thank you to every single person who showed up, supported, and believed in this movement,' Stewart said on Facebook. 'We did this together, and I am deeply humbled by your trust. Now it's time to get to work — and I promise to make you proud every step of the way.' He leads Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz (D-Passaic), who won 5,997 votes, and Passaic County Commissioner Orlando Cruz, who nabbed 5,736 votes. Romi Herrera, the district's only Fulop-backed candidate, has about half as many votes as Herrera and is well out of the running. Officials are still counting votes, and they'll continue to receive mail ballots postmarked by 8 p.m. on Election Day until Monday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Our View: Vote for Ellis in 32nd District special primary
Four candidates appear on the Feb. 25 special primary ballot vying to fill the vacancy created when former 32nd District Assemblyman Vince Fong was elected last May to succeed Kevin McCarthy in Congress. Bakersfield's 20th District congressman, McCarthy, resigned his seat midterm in December 2023. The candidates running to succeed Fong are Bakersfield entrepreneur Stan Ellis, a Republican; educator and Bakersfield City School District Board trustee Chris Cruz-Boone, a Democrat; and two political newcomers, author, educator and business owner Holli Willibey, a Republican; and social worker William Brown, a Libertarian. Unanimously endorsed by the Kern County Republican Central Committee, Ellis is recognized for being an innovative businessman and philanthropist. He is the most uniquely qualified among the Assembly candidates. He should be elected to replace Fong. Growing up on a South Dakota farm, Ellis worked his way through the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. After graduating with a degree in mathematics, Ellis took a job in 1975 as a 'mud engineer' in Kern's oil patch. He formed his first company, West Coast Mud, in 1982. Eventually he branched out into the chemical process industry with his company Global Environmental, focusing on minimizing waste from oil refineries. With offices in Bakersfield, the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Houston, Ellis would fly his Beechcraft King Air between locations to oversee operations. In more recent years, he founded the quantum physics lab Qubitekk. The company is collaborating with the departments of Energy and Defense to advance cybersecurity in the United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ellis developed a radiation device to irradiate and mutate RNA to kill viruses. An admitted science fanatic who holds several patents, Ellis believes he is the first U.S. manufacturer to work with quantum-entangled split protons. Ellis serves on Cal State Bakersfield's Engineering Advisory Board. But Ellis hasn't lost his agricultural roots. He also owns a pistachio orchard, too. Ellis is well-known for his interest in entertainment. He formerly owned the Bakersfield Jam basketball team and promoted mixed martial arts to Bakersfield audiences. On the side, he was the lead guitarist for the band Stampede, which performed at Bakersfield's Crystal Palace. 'I like the entertainment business,' Ellis told The Californian in a 2016 interview. 'I like watching people have a great time.' His philanthropy includes a $250,000 donation he and his wife, Bonnie, made to Bakersfield Memorial Hospital to help construct the hospital's Children's Pavilion for Emergency Care. His current 32nd District campaign has echoes of his campaign for the same post in 2006, when Bakersfield's long-time Congressman Bill Thomas was retiring and being replaced by his protégé, then 32nd District Assemblyman Kevin McCarthy. Although Ellis at the time was well-known as a local businessman, he was not publicly well known. He spent nearly $500,000 of his own money to raise his name recognition, but still lost to Jean Fuller, who was then the superintendent of the Bakersfield City School District. Asked by The Californian why he was competing in the 2006 race, Ellis credited his wife for encouraging him. 'I'm forever complaining at the TV about politicians and bureaucrats,' Ellis told The Californian in 2006. 'And my wife would say, 'Why don't you do something about it?'' Over the years, Ellis has not lost his fervor for going to Sacramento and making the legislative process more responsive to the needs of Kern County and the Central Valley. The father of five adult children and 20 grandchildren, Ellis says he was motivated to run this year for the 32nd District seat 'by a profound sense of duty to future generations.' If a candidate wins more than 50% of the votes in the Feb. 25 special primary election, he or she will be quickly sworn into the 32nd District Assembly seat. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, the top two vote-getters will compete in a special general election on April 29. Ellis has a business and personal reputation for being a problem solver. The California Legislature really needs a problem solver. Vote for Stan Ellis.
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ballots mailed for Assembly District 32 special primary election
Ballots were mailed to eligible voters for the 32nd Assembly District special primary election on Monday, a month ahead of the election to fill a vacancy left by Vince Fong. "Voters may choose to deposit their ballots in secure ballot drop boxes located throughout the county, return them by mail using the postage-paid envelope provided, deliver them in person to the Elections Office during business hours, or submit them at designated poll sites on Election Day, Feb. 25th," Kern County Elections Division said in a news release. Ballots will be sent only to voters in the 32nd District, which covers much of the greater Bakersfield area and eastern Kern County but also reaches up into Tulare County, covering parts of Visalia. Four candidates have registered to run, and if one of them receives more than 50% of the vote in the Feb. 25 primary, that candidate will be declared the winner and there will be no run-off election. If no candidates gets more than 50%, then the top two vote-getters in the primary will move on to a special election. The candidates are Bakersfield City School District Board of Trustees President Chris Cruz-Boone, a Democrat; Bakersfield businessman Stan Ellis, a Republican; licensed clinical social worker in Visalia William Brown, a Libertarian, and El Tejon Unified School District Board Trustee Hollie Willibey, a Republican. There are 314,691 registered voters in District 32, according to the Secretary of State's office, with 48% registered Republican, 25% Democrat and 18% no party preference. The 32nd District seat in the California Assembly has been vacant since May 2024 when then-Assemblyman Vince Fong won a special election of his own to fill out the remainder of former U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy's term. McCarthy had been ousted as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and resigned his Congressional seat early, leading to the special election, which sent Fong to Washington. Though Fong eventually sailed to victory in both the special election and the regular election in November for a full two-year term, he had to sue the state to allow him to run given he had already filed for re-election to the Assembly. Fong won the ability to run for Congress but the Secretary of State's Office said it was too late to remove his name from the 32nd District race and Fong's name appeared twice on the November ballot. Bakersfield Ward 3 Councilman Ken Weir won a spot on the ballot following a write-in campaign in the primary, but Fong still beat Weir for the Assembly seat in the November election. Having also won his election to Congress, Fong notified the state he would not be taking his oath of office for the Assembly, and a special election was set for April 29. Primary ballots were mailed Monday and official Kern County ballot drop boxes would be available starting Tuesday, said Laura Cantu assistant registrar of voters with the Kern County Auditor-Controller-County Clerk's office. Only registered voters in the 32nd Assembly District will be mailed a ballot. Voters can check which district they reside in by checking the state's website at, Replacement ballots can be requested from the Elections Division and ballots can be tracked using the state's Ballottrax at Additional information can be found at the Elections Division website,
