Until that switch, the three Livermore Valley cities had been part of the First District along with the Fremont area. Scott Haggerty has represented that district since 1996 and ran unopposed for re-election in June. Supervisor Keith Carson also was unopposed.
Miley won re-election easily last week with 62 percent of the vote over challenger Bryan Parker. His campaign was supported by endorsements from all five members of the Pleasanton City Council, something that has rarely happened. But, it demonstrates how accessible he has been and his willingness to listen and try to tackle challenges. He lives retail politics—showing up lots of places and shaking lots of hands.
Incidentally, it is rather remarkable how long supervisors are serving. Carson initially won election in 1992, while Haggerty was elected in 1996 and Miley in 2000. Supervisors Richard Valle (2012) and Wilma Chan (2010) are the “newcomers” with the caveat that Chan served six years from 1994-2000 before winning a seat in the state Assembly.
Looking at the statewide registration trends, there was a huge surge in voter registration between April 8 and May 23 when it closed for the June 8 election—761,054 people registered. The Democratic party picked up a nice bump, going from 43.65 percent to 44.82 percent. Republicans saw a percentage drop from 27.52 to 27.29 percent, while no party preference, which had been the fastest growing choice of new voters, fell slightly from 23.88 to 23.32 percent.
California continued to grower bluer, a fact reflected in the number of Democrat vs. Democrat run-offs in November, including in the Senate race to replace retiring Barbara Boxer. Attorney General Kamala Harris faces Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez in November with no Republican coming close to receiving double digits in a 34-person field.
There are now 17,915,053 Californians registered to vote.