Election Day Draws People To Polls
It’s time to vote, and we have two races we’ll be keeping an eye on today.
One is for a local office; the other for a state senate seat.
The 37th District covers a good part of the Coachella Valley.
It became vacant when john benoit resigned late last year in order to become a member of the riverside county board of supervisors. He was appointed by the governor to replace the late Roy Wilson. He stepped down in August just a week before his death.
There are seven candidates in the 37th District Senate Race. They are current Assemblyman Bill Emmerson, Matt Monica – he’s the lone independent candidate and a Desert Sands Unified School District board member.
Anna Nevenic, a Palm Springs nurse and author, Arthur Guerrero, a Beaumont educator and businessman – he ran for this same office in 2008 and lost to Benoit.
Then there’s David Peters, a former Hemet school board member.
Rounding it out is Justin Blake who sits on the Palm Springs School Board, and former Assemblyman Russ Bogh.
If one of these candidates clears 50 percent of the vote, they win outright – otherwise the top finisher in each party will advance to a June 8th run-off.
Now the city council race in Rancho Mirage:
There’s also 7 candidates in this one, including two incumbents vying for three seats.
Scott Hines is a public policy consutlant.
He made news when he became the target of a smear campaign conducted by the Riverside County Tax Payers Association. Hines was offended by what he termed a gay slur when the group said he would “infect” the council.
Also in the race, Councilman Dana Hobart would like to stay in office. He’s looking to serve a 3rd term on the council.
Small business owner Mark Carpenter, Attorney Kenneth Gregory, Ira Laufer who is currently a member of the city’s planning commission, retired businessman Bill Bramer and incumbent Ron Meepos who has served on the council the past 8 years are all seeking the seat.
It should be noted the 3rd seat in this election has been vacant since January due to the death of long-time councilman Alan Seman.
Polling places close at 8 pm. Of course we’ll be watching the election closely all day, and we’ll have the results for you as soon as they come in.
