Baugh takes early lead to finish strong in District 5 Supervisor race; Young concedes

Photo by Michael Woodward

Candidate for Anderson City Council John Day found himself in the thick of the hunt for one of two seats on the city council on Tuesday night.

Photo by Michael Woodward

Supervisor Les Baugh gets congratulations from friends as initial reports put him ahead of challenger Chris Young by nearly 800 votes.

Incumbent District 5 Supervisor Les Baugh took a commanding lead with early returns and never looked back in the runoff race against challenger Chris Young. Baugh's name was selected on 57.02 percent or 4,305 ballots while Young's was chosen on 42.39 percent or 4,099 ballots.

Another .59 percent or 57 ballots were cast for write-in candidates, elections officials reported.

With all precincts reporting, a total of 16,200 provisional, absentee and mail-in ballots returned on Election Day remain uncounted, explained Cathy Darling Allen, Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters.

Countywide, a total of 49,747 ballots were cast in Shasta County, which has 96,476 registered voters, resulting in a 51.56 percent voter turnout, Allen said.

Cheers erupted in Supervisor Les Baugh's living room shortly after 8:20 p.m. when the first returns were announced by campaign manager Trish Strawn. The difference of more than 800 votes with just 4 of 24 precincts reporting appeared to bouy Baugh's spirits.

At the Sand Trap Restaurant in north Anderson, Chris Young was surrounded by dozens of well-wishers and campaign supporters, although the mood was more like that of a wake than a celebration following release of the early numbers.

Candidate Young, a Realtor, tried to remain positive, although he was very realistic about his chances.

"My gut reaction is that the numbers don't change much throughout the night, although anything is possible," Young told the Valley Post.

Although he made some strong alliances with at least the Redding faction of the Tea Party, Young said he "never counted on anti-incumbency being a big factor" in the race against Baugh. "I'm sure it played some role," he added.

"If it comes down to concessions, I congratulate Les Baugh. He ran a good campaign. He was trying as hard as I was, but the power of the incumbency and his track record while in office carried the day," Young said.

When asked what the future holds, Young smiled, then sighed, "I need to get back to selling real estate to support my family."

Meanwhile, in a three-person race for two seats on the Anderson City Council, incumbent Keith Webster was trailing John Day slightly with challenger Debe Hopkins trailing Webster's total by just 22 votes.

Two-term incumbent Keith Webster, with 32.58 percent or 847 votes. He was 62 votes behind challenger John Day, who had 34.96 percent or 909 votes. A total of 84 votes separated front-runner Day from Debe Hopkins, running a not-so-distant third place with 31.73 percent or 825 votes.

Anderson voters could vote for two of the three candidates.

"I'm nervous," Webster said when the first count of early absentee ballots was released some 30 minutes after the precinct polling places closed at 8 p.m. "I didn't know what to expect, but I'm appreciative of where I'm at right now.

Noting his own personal record of losing two previous city council races prior to winning the last two, Webster said, "This is a tie-breaker. It's too early to call, but I feel pretty good."

More surprised by his own dark-horse candidacy, Day said, "I'm tickled to death about it. I thought it would be close and this election didn't disappoint."

Hopkins, meanwhile, bid nearly 30 friends and campaign committee faithful goodnight shortly before Mary's Pizza Shack closed at 9 p.m.

"The last I looked, it was neck and neck. It is going to be what it is and my watching the numbers isn't going to change a thing," Hopkins told the Valley Post shortly before 10 p.m. "I am going to go to sleep, and when I wake up in the morning to check the numbers, either I will be on the city council or I won't be."

Finally, in the ballot measure races, Measure 19, the legalization of recreational marijuana use for anyone 21 and older, was resoundingly falling to defeat locally with 61.31 percent or 29,740 votes against the measure while 38.69 percent or 18,764 voters favored it.

Throughout the day, precinct workers reported heavier than normal flows of voters with lines forming at some of the larger precincts during the noon-time lunch hour and the traditional dinner time of 6 p.m.-8 p.m. when the polls closed.

"The flow has been very good. In fact, much heavier than I expected it would be," said Karen Schrieber, inspector at Precinct 30 where 269 or 600 registered voters had cast their ballots on Election Day before 7:30 p.m.

"When the lines formed, we gave people the option of not using an official voting booth. They could sit at a table and fill out their ballots. At one point, we had 11 people at the tables and all of our six voting booths filled at the same time," Schrieber said.

"We think this is the biggest turnout we've had. It even beat the last Presidential election in 2008," said Debra Collins, inspector for Anderson's Precinct 60, where 214 of 508 registered voters cast ballots on Tuesday.

"Compared to the other four elections that we have had here over the years, this has been one busy day today," noted Roger Savedra, assistant inspector for Precinct 110 in Anderson.

Of the precinct's 359 registered voters, 124 had shown up Tuesday to cast their ballots and another 60 to 70 people hand-delivered their absentee or mail-in ballots to save on postage costs while meeting the 8 p.m. deadline.