Democrat Marni von Wilpert won the race for the 48th Congressional District seat that includes Temecula, leading Republican Jim Desmond by roughly 19 percentage points as of election night.
Von Wilpert had 85,248 votes, or 59.4%, to Desmond's 58,385 votes, or 40.6%, KESQ reported with about 70% of ballots counted across the district. Decision Desk HQ called her the winner Tuesday night. She will replace retiring Rep. Darrell Issa, who announced earlier this year he would not seek reelection.
The 48th District spans portions of San Diego and Riverside counties. It had been identified as a key swing district after redistricting lines were redrawn following the passage of Proposition 50, according to KESQ.
City Council District 5
Incumbent Zak Schwank held a lead of about 6.5 percentage points in the nonpartisan Temecula City Council District 5 race, according to Decision Desk HQ's Riverside County tracker. Schwank faced three challengers: firefighter and paramedic Russell Shirley, community volunteer and educator Yuan Hawkes, and grocery worker Laurel LaMont, according to Patch's Temecula voter guide.
Ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 can still arrive at county election offices through Nov. 10, so margins could shift.
Measure A passes; Measure S trails
Riverside County's Measure A, a renewal of the existing half-cent sales tax that funds countywide road projects, was passing by a wide margin. Decision Desk HQ showed "Yes" leading by 40 percentage points on election night. The initiative's language states the tax generates approximately $280 million annually, according to Patch.
Measure S, the $215 million Temecula Valley Unified School District (TVUSD) bond for campus repairs and upgrades, was leading with "Yes" ahead by about 3.8 percentage points, according to Decision Desk HQ. If approved, property owners within TVUSD boundaries would pay approximately $20 per $100,000 of assessed property value annually. School bonds in California typically require a 55% supermajority to pass, a threshold the measure had not cleared as of election night.
TVUSD trustee races
Three TVUSD trustee seats were on the ballot. In Trustee Area 4, challenger David Sola, a STEM education director, led incumbent Joseph Komrosky by about 7 percentage points, according to Decision Desk HQ. In Trustee Area 3, Karen Poznanski, a teacher and doctoral candidate, led Ronda Bowen by about 20 percentage points. Incumbent Jen Wiersma did not seek reelection in that seat. In Trustee Area 2, incumbent Emil Barham led challenger Brian Emmert by about 6.5 percentage points.
State legislative races
In state Senate District 32, incumbent Kelly Seyarto led challenger Tiffanie Tate by about 6 percentage points with 62% of ballots counted, according to Decision Desk HQ. In Assembly District 71, incumbent Kate Sanchez led challenger JJ Galvez by about 8.5 percentage points with 72% counted.
Both races remained uncalled as of election night.
Rancho California Water District
The Rancho California Water District, which serves Temecula, had four seats on the ballot. Decision Desk HQ showed incumbent William Everett Plummer leading by just 0.08 percentage points, signaling an extremely tight contest among five candidates: Plummer, incumbents J.D. Harkey and Carol Lee Brady, former Temecula City Council Member Maryann Edwards, and entrepreneur William Woodrome.
Riverside County's semi-final official results, posted at 11 p.m. Nov. 3, showed all 1,206 precincts reporting with 317,276 ballots counted out of 1,454,190 registered voters. Mail-in ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 10 will still be counted, and results are not yet certified.
