Bill Emmerson Comes Out Fighting In Election Returns

Assemblyman Bill Emmerson will be the heavy favorite in the June 8 runoff to fill the vacant 37th District state Senate seat.

Emmerson, R-Hemet, finished atop the seven-candidate field in Tuesday’s special election with 41.61 percent of the vote, but fell short of the majority needed to win the seat.

Emmerson will face Democrat Justin Blake, a Palm Springs school board member, and American Independent Party candidate Matt Monica in the runoff in the predominately Republican district.

Click here to see all of the election results from April 13

Former Assemblyman Russ Bogh, a Republican, was second with 21.94 percent of the vote, followed by Blake with 13.97 percent, according to semi- official figures released by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.

The seat was vacated by John Benoit, who was appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to replace the late Roy Wilson.

The district includes parts of Banning, Beaumont, Corona, Hemet, Moreno Valley, Lake Elsinore, Norco, Perris, San Jacinto and the Coachella Valley.