By David Courtland and Carlos Garcia

Tuesday night’s California primary election results featured an upset in the contest for County Superintendent of Schools as Karen Sher and Maggie Marschner finished ahead of incumbent Cesar Morales, who was a distant third.


As of the 1:41 a.m. Wednesday vote update, Sher led the trio with 45,845 votes, or 39.47 percent of the total votes cast. Marschner was second with 38, 993 votes or 33.57 percent and Morales trailed with 31,315 votes or 26.96 percent.

If that pattern continues as votes are counted, Sher and Marschner will face each other in a November run-off election. Sher is an Oxnard Union High School Board of Education trustee and Marschner was principal of La Reina High School and Middle School in Thousand Oaks until it closed in 2024.


Sher, who works for the California Department of Education as its director of teacher recruitment, built her campaign on a promise to end alleged misuse of funds at the Ventura County Office of Education. Morales has faced scrutiny after admitting give himself an unauthorized $15,750–$16,000 bonus without approval from the Ventura County Board of Education. State law requires that any changes to a superintendent’s salary or additional benefit be approved by a public vote of the board.


In the race for Ventura County Clerk-Recorder, incumbent Michelle Ascension easily beat opponent Paul Harold Johnson and will not have to face anyone in November because she garnered more than 50 percent of the total votes. Ascension drew 83,148 votes to Johnson’s 33,991, or 70.98 percent to 29.02 percent.

“I’m grateful that the community saw how my team and I have worked and gave us another four years to serve them,” Ascension told Vida Newspaper on Wednesday. “I have been actively campaigning since July, so it’s a satisfying ending to a year of hard work.” Ascencion added that she wanted to thank the community for all their support, “especially my home town of Oxnard.”


Incumbent Ventura County 4th District Supervisor Janice S. Parvin easily won reelection, crushing opponent Ruth Luevanos 20,054 votes to 7,784 votes, or 72.04 percent to 27.96 percent, avoiding a November run-off.


In the other contest for the Board of Supervisors, incumbent 2nd District Supervisor Jeff Gorell drew more than 50 percent of the votes cast to avoid a November run-off. Gorell got 20,646 votes, or 54.64 percent, Ashley Orozco got 14,338 votes or 37.94 percent and Mark Perryman trailed with 2,804 votes or 7.42 percent.


Incumbent Democrat s24th Congressional District Representative Salud Carbajal also avoided a November run-off, getting 13,281 votes or 53.55 percent. Republican Bob Smith got 9,108 votes or 36.72 percent, Democrat Sarah Bacon got 1,781 votes or 7.18 percent and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Helena Pasquarella trailed with 631 votes or 2.54 percent.


In the race to replace retiring Democrat 26th Congressional District Representative Julia Brownley, Democrat Jacqui Irwin will face Republican Sam Gallucci in November. Irwin got 36,449 votes or 42.74 percent, Gallucci got 18,836 votes or 22.09 percent and seven other candidates trailed with less than 10,000 votes each.


In the race to replace Jacqui Irwin in Democrat 42nd Assembly District, fellow Democrat Deborah Klein Lopez lead with 33,571 votes or 49.21 percent, and in November will face Republican Ted Nordblum, who got 18,372 votes or 26.93 percent. Republican Rocky Rhodes trailed with 16,283 votes or 23.87 percent.


Incumbent Democrat 38th District Assemblyman Steve Bennett avoided a November run-off against Republican Michael MacDonald, drawing 33, 112 votes to MacDonald’s 14,653, or 69.32 percent to 30.68 percent.


Ventura County votes for governor and lieutenant governor reflected statewide results, with Republican Steve Hilton getting 43,959 votes or 31.96 percent. If that trend continues as votes are counted, in November Hilton could face Democrat and former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who got 36, 238 votes or 26.34 percent. If the numbers change Hilton could face Democrat Tom Steyer who finished in third with 26,744 votes or 19.44 percent, and several dozen others trailed with less than 10 percent of the vote each in Ventura County. At the state level the percentages are very similar with Hilton 28%, Becerra 25% and Steyer 20%.


Likewise if the trend continues in the lieutenant governor’s race, Gloria Romero will face Fiona Ma in November. Romero got 31,313 votes or 24.23 percent to Ma’s 23,009 votes or 17.8 percent. Josh Fryday, who was endorsed by Governor Gavin Newsom, finished in third with 19, 107 votes or 14.79 percent and former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs followed with 13,358 votes or 10.34 percent. Fourteen other candidates trailed with less than 10 percent of the vote.


All this numbers and results are subject to change due to the fact that there are thousands of ballots being counted.