In the race for the Los Banos City Council District 2 seat, challenger and local teacher Douglas Begonia, Jr. was leading appointed incumbent Refugio LLamas as of the latest results update on Wednesday morning, Nov. 9 at 12:37 a.m.
According to the Merced County Elections website, with 100% of precincts reporting, Begonia had 575 votes to 391 for LLamas or 58.7% to 39.9% of the vote. There were also 14 write-in votes for about 1.4% of the vote, but there was no certified write-in candidate running in the race so those won’t count.
When reached for comment following the initial returns which showed him in the lead just after 8:30 p.m., Begonia responded simply, “Looks like a great start!”
Wednesday morning, following the latest results update, he shared additional comments.
“I feel humbled and honored to have had so much support from our community throughout this campaign and on election day. I am excited, and ready to get to work for our city,” Begonia added.
When reached for comment about the election results Mayor Pro Tem Ken Lambert responded, “Well, I was a little disappointed in voter turnout city- and nationwide, but we move forward. As for Mr. Jones’ and Paul’s (Llanez) races, I want to congratulate them both. But I have to say I was impressed with Mr. Davis’ write-in.”
“On Refugio’s and Doug’s race this could have gone either way,” he continued. “But I do look forward to learning a little more about Doug and working with him on the council.”
“Paul, I believe will be a great asset to our city moving forward and I look forward to working with him myself, once everything is finalized and certified, and sworn in,” Lambert added.
Please visit www.losbanosenterprise.com for the latest results in this race.
LOS BANOS, CALIFORNIA: On April 30, 2024, at approximately 1:54 PM, officers from the California…
Local volunteer efforts honored more than 156,700 California servicemembers laid to rest with a veteran’s…
December 5, 1930 - April 14, 2024 In loving memory of Betty Lou “Amos” Pickard,…
PALO ALTO, April 18, 2024 — In March 2023, U.S. Court of Appeals for the…
Jerry Ray Parson, 82 of Turlock passed away on April 10, 2024 at Alexander Cohan…
Last year, talking with journalist Michael Dunbar I was stopped in my tracks as he…