By Robert J. Hansen | OBSERVER Staff Writer
As of midnight Tuesday, with nine percent of the votes counted, Roger Dickinson has a commanding lead for Sacramento City Council District 2, garnering 44% of the votes in.
Sacramento’s District 2 seat has been vacant since former council member Sean Loloee resigned from office in Jan. after he was arrested for multiple counts of holding false immigration documents, using false immigration papers, falsifying records, wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the Department of Labor.
Nine candidates have been campaigning for the District 2 seat. After the results from yesterday’s primary election are in, the top two will face each other in November unless one candidate wins more than 50% of the vote.
District 2 includes the Del Paso Heights, Old North Sacramento, Hagginwood and Robla communities.
Dickinson, 73, a veteran of local politics who has served in the Assembly and on the County Board of Supervisors, was encouraged by the early results.
“I think it’s clear what the voters in the district (are saying) and the overall direction is clear that we’re picking up a significant portion of the electorate,” Dickinson said. “This is not a case where it’s a good early return in a close race, it’s not close.. In a nine person race, to be approaching 50 percent is pretty significant. You don’t expect to see that kind of differential.”
The two candidates with the next highest vote count are Stephen Walton with 14% and Kim Davie with 12%.
Walton – a Grant High grad, neighborhood organizer and professional actor and singer – said he expected to be in the top two for the runoff in Nov.
“We’re keeping our eye on the ball,” he told The OBSERVER. “We’re excited to restore our community and give it the hope that it desperately needs.”
Walton, 42, thanked all his supporters and volunteers for their support and says he is proud of the campaign they have run.
Elections for two other city council seats, District 4 and District 6, were held yesterday with
incumbents Katie Valenzuela of District 4 and Eric Guerra of District 6 facing challengers for their seats.
District 4 encompasses Downtown, East Sacramento and most of Upper Land Park.
In a race that looks like it could be decided in the primary, Valenzuela currently trails challenger Phil Pluckebaum by about 1,200 votes.
With 16% of the votes counted in the District 4 race, Pluckebaum has received 57% of the votes while Valenzuela has received 38%.
Pluckebaum said he was overwhelmed with the initial results.
“That was not what I expected. I was hoping to be ahead but that was overwhelming,” Pluckebaum told The OBSERVER.
He said he was grateful for everyone who voted. “Democracy is so much work and the folks that actually put in the effort to make our democracy work, I appreciate all of them.”
Valenzuela’s campaign could not be reached for comment Tuesday or Wednesday morning.
District 6 encompasses Tahoe Park, Lemon Hill and parts of South Sacramento.
With 14% of votes counted in the District 6 race as of midnight Tuesday, Councilmember Guerra has a huge lead receiving 66% of the counted votes.
Guerra’s campaign could not be reached for comment.
If the results hold as they are, Pluckebaum and Guerra may go on to win their respective seats outright in the primary election.
The results of the election will be updated again by the county at 4 p.m. on Friday.