Update: Arambula wins, Soria and Tangipa lead in Fresno-area races for CA Assembly seats

Incumbent Assemblymember Dr. Joaquin Arámbula is the projected winner in his re-election bid for the 31st Assembly District as returns roll in throughout the central San Joaquin Valley from last week's general election .

The numbers are also firming up in several other Valley races for the state Assembly more than a week after Election Night . Those include the Assembly District 27 race between incumbent Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria , D-Fresno and her Republican challenger, auditor Joanna Garcia Rose of Atwater, and the District 8 contest between Republicans David Tangipa of Fresno and George Radanovich of Mariposa.

Arámbula, a Democrat from Fresno, holds a lead of almost 17,000 votes – or more than 18 percentage points – over his Republican challenger, college student Solomon Verduzco.

As of Wednesday, Arámbula had amassed 54,532 votes, or 59.2%, according to updated results from the California Secretary of State, compared to 37,534 votes or 40.8% for Verduzco. The Associated Press called the race in favor of Arámbula Tuesday evening.

The 31st Assembly District sits entirely within Fresno County and includes much of Fresno, part of Clovis, as well as Sanger, Selma, Fowler, Parlier, Orange Cove, and parts of rural Fresno County to the southeast of Fresno.

In the 27th Assembly District, Soria has so far received 53,035 votes, or 52.9%, from within Fresno, Madera and Merced counties, compared to 47,142 votes or 47.1% for Garcia Rose. That's a margin of nearly 5,900 votes with an estimated 72% of ballots counted districtwide.

The 27th District includes parts of Fresno, Madera and Merced counties. Cities within the district include parts of Fresno, Madera and Merced, along with Delhi, Livingston, Atwater, Chowchilla, Los Baños, Kerman, Firebaugh, Dos Palos, San Joaquín, Mendota and Coalinga.

If the lead holds up for Soria by the time the election is certified in early December, it would give her a second two-year term in the Assembly.

In the sprawling 8th Assembly District, which spans part of north Fresno and mountain areas of Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Tuolumne and Calaveras counties as well as Mono and Inyo counties on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, first-time candidate Tangipa ran against Radanovich, a former congressman.

Through Wednesday afternoon, Tangipa – a field director for Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig – had accumulated 99.290 votes, or 53.3%, to 87,049 votes, or 46.7%, for Radanovich. An estimated 83% of ballots cast have been tabulated across the seven counties.

Both candidates were running to replace longtime Assemblymember Jim Patterson, a Fresno Republican, who did not run for reelection.

In another Valley district featuring a pair of Republican candidates, Alexandra Macedo is the projected winner for a two-year term representing the 33rd Assembly District.

Macedo, a cattle rancher and business owner from Tulare, held a lead of 26.4 percentage points over Tulare dairyman Xavier Avila. Through Wednesday afternoon, Macedo had garnered 58,160 votes or 63.2%, compared to 33,905 votes or 36.8% for Avila.

Macedo will succeed incumbent Assemblymember Devon Mathis, who is stepping down after 10 years in office.

The 33rd District includes all of Kings County, much of Tulare County and a small part of southeastern Fresno County. An estimated 84% of ballots across the district have been counted so far.

There's also a projected winner in the 32nd Assembly District, but that candidate also won a full term in Congress and thus won't assume the legislative seat in Sacramento.

Vince Fong, R-Bakersefield, had originally filed to seek re-election to the Assembly seat. But when former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, another Bakersfield Republican, resigned from Congress in late 2023, Fong filed to seek that post in the 20th Congressional District, instead.

But because McCarthy's resignation came after the filing deadline for the Assembly race, Fong was in the unusual position of appearing on the ballot for – and winning – the primary for the Assembly seat and for Congress, but also won a special election to fill McCarthy's unexpired term.

In the 32nd Assembly contest, which includes portions of Kern and Tulare counties, Fong has racked up 100,511 votes or 58.8%, compared to challenger Ken Weir of Bakersfield, who received 70,322 votes or 41.2%.