In the hotly contested 15th State Assembly District, which includes Pleasanton’s northeast side, Alamo resident and Democrat Joan Buchanan won the seat with 52.9 percent of the votes cast over Republican Abram Wilson, who is mayor of San Ramon.
With all 83 precincts counted, Buchanan received 15, 622 votes to Wilson’s 13,846 votes.
Buchanan’s victory dashed the GOP’s last hope of retaining a partisan office in the Bay Area, with business interests spending heavily to save the seat being vacated by termed-out, three-term Assemblyman Guy Houston.
In the 18th State Assembly District, which includes much of Pleasanton’s north and west sides, Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi (D-Castro Valley) received more than 77 percent of the votes cast over her Republican opponent Lou Filipovich, a perennial candidate.
In the 20th district, State Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Newark) was re-elected to his third–and final–two-year term, receiving 72 percent of the vote over Republican challenger Jeffrey Wald.
Also winning in Tuesday’s election:
* Measure WW–This is East Bay Park District’s $500 million bond issue. Before the ballots were cast, there was some concern the measure wouldn’t pass with voters wary of paying a tax in a struggling economy. But with 71.7 percent of the votes cast favoring the measure, it more than crossed the threshold of a two-thirds majority. Measure WW will finance $500 million in bonds over two decades by extending a property tax of up to $10 per $100,000 in assessed valuation.
* BART Board of Directors District 5–John McPartland topped challenger Linda Jeffery Sailors with 60.9 percent of the vote compared to her 38.7 percent.
* Judge for Alameda County Superior Court–Dennis Hayashi received 222,457 votes, or 61.36 percent of the total votes cast, or defeat Phil Daly, who received 136,806 votes, or 37.74 percent.
* Dublin mayor–Dublin Councilman Tim Sbranti won the mayor’s post handily with 9,424 votes, or 84.49 percent of those cast, to succeed Mayor Janet Lockhart, who is termed out this year. Sbranti’s opponents were Elizabeth (Liz) King, who received 9.48 percent of the votes, and Shawn Costello, with 5.73 percent.
