AP calls Valadao winner of state's 22nd Congressional District; Perez leads Salas by just four votes in latest election update

The Associated Press on Tuesday called California's 22nd Congressional District for Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, while an update Tuesday to Kern County's election results showed Kim Salas only four votes behind incumbent Leticia Perez in the District 5 supervisorial race.

If the AP's determination holds, it would mark the second time Valadao, a five-term incumbent, will have defeated former Assemblyman Rudy Salas, a Bakersfield Democrat. Voter registrations tilt Democratic in the area Valadao represented from 2013 until 2019 before taking back the seat four years ago in a rematch with Democrat T.J. Cox.

"Central Valley voters picked a farmer who works with both parties to lower inflation, bring water to the Valley and defend their safety and security, and Representative Valadao will keep getting results for them," National Republic Congressional Committee spokesman Ben Petersen said by email.

In the District 5 race, according to the Kern County Elections Division, Perez had 12,937 votes, or 50.01%, and Salas had 12,933 votes, or 49.99%. The division said Tuesday there were an estimated 33,395 ballots left to be counted across all races.

Results from several other Kern County races remained mostly unchanged from previous results.

DISTRICT 20

Rep. Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, remained in the lead with 66% of the vote over Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux. Boudreaux, also a Republican, suspended his campaign and endorsed Fong this summer.

STATE ASSEMBLY

DISTRICT 35

Incumbent Democrat Dr. Jasmeet Bains remained ahead of Republican challenger Robert Rosas by roughly 15 percentage points Tuesday. The latest results from the California Secretary of State's office showed Bains with 57.7% and Rosas with 42.3%.

DISTRICT 32

Vince Fong continued to lead in the race against a fellow Republican, Bakersfield City Councilman Ken Weir, in the contest for Fong's old seat in the Assembly. Fong's name appeared twice on this year's ballot despite efforts to remove it from the Assembly race.

Results showed Fong with 59% of the vote to Weir's 40%.

WARD 2

Incumbent Democrat Vice Mayor Andrae Gonzales was ahead of challenger Michael Cardenas by almost 20 percentage points Tuesday. Gonzales, with 60% of the vote, has held his council seat since 2016.

WARD 5

In one of two council races with an open seat, Republican Larry Koman had 43.3% of the vote, ahead of second-place vote-getter businessman Mike Madrigal, who had 39.3%

WARD 6

In the other open seat race, Republican Zack Bashirtash held his lead over opponents Imelda Ceja, Tom Webster and Johnny Olaguez. According to the latest results, Bashirtash had 36% of the vote, Ceja 32%, Webster 17% and Olaguez 13%

DISTRICT 2

Former Bakersfield City Council member Chris Parlier remained well ahead of the other five candidates in the race. Parlier, a Republican, took an early lead on Election Night and has maintained a healthy advantage through multiple updates.

As of Friday afternoon, Parlier had 32% of the vote. The next highest vote-getter in the race is Tehachapi Realtor Dale Cisneros with 22%.