Santa Clarita Valley residents will see mostly familiar faces with a few new ones to get acquainted with as their local, state and federal representatives after the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk certified the final results for the 2022 General Election Monday afternoon.
According to a news release from the Registrar-Recorder’s Office, a total of 2,456,701 ballots were processed and counted with 43.65% of eligible voters casting ballots in L.A. County. On Tuesday, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors is slated to declare the election officially concluded.
The official election canvass began on Nov. 9, and during the canvass period, all outstanding ballots were reviewed and tallied once verified.
Santa Clarita City Council
Voters reelected incumbents Laurene Weste, Bill Miranda and Marsha McLean to their seats on the City Council. Weste, Miranda and McLean received 19.85% (32,886), 19.5% (32,306) and 17.11% (28,352) of the votes, respectively.
Challenger Denise Lite, who received 15.42% (25,552) of the votes, trailed behind McLean for a majority of the time, as the Registrar-Recorder processed and counted ballots. Jeffrey Malick, Selina Thomas, David Barlavi, Douglas Fraser and Kody Amour followed behind Lite in the polls. Amour dropped out of the race in September.
27th Congressional District
Incumbent Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, declared victory in November, and as of Tuesday afternoon the Registrar-Recorder’s Office certified his victory. Garcia received 53.24% (104,624) of the votes while his Democratic challenger Christy Smith received 46.76% (91,892) of the votes.
Garcia’s victory helped Republicans secure a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
40th Assembly District
Democratic challenger Pilar Schiavo unseated incumbent Suzette Martinez Valladares by roughly 522 votes, according to the Registrar-Recorder’s Office final election results.
The race between Valladares and Schiavo became closer day by day post-election night, until a few hundred votes separated the two candidates. Ultimately, Schiavo claimed victory with 50.16% (79,852) of the votes while Valladares received 49.84% (79,330) of the votes.
Valladares told The Signal during an interview that she would not pursue a recount.
WIlliam S. Hart Union High School District
In the race to represent Trustee Area No. 2, voters reelected incumbent Bob Jensen, who received 66.99% (11,639) of the votes while his opponent Andrew Taban received 33.01% (5,736) of the votes. Incumbent Cherise Moore finished ahead of her opponent Teresa Todd with 62.51% (7,355) of the votes and 37.49% (4,412) of the votes, respectively, in the race to represent Trustee Area No. 3.
Incumbent Joe Messina was reelected to his seat to represent Trustee Area No. 5. He received 59.62% (12,552) of the votes while his opponent Rebecca Hindman received 40.38% (8,502) of the votes.
Castaic Union School District
In the Castaic Union School District, incumbent Mayreen Burk will continue in her seat to represent Trustee Area E after she received 62.10% (675) of the votes. Her opponent Tracy Ford received 37.90% (412) of the votes.
Newhall School District
In the Newhall School District, Donna Robert unseated incumbent Brian Walters in the race to represent Trustee Area No. 1. The two candidates were neck-and-neck with less than 20 votes separating the two at certain points of the race.
Ultimately, Robert won by 13 votes over Walters. Robert received 50.16% (2,028) of the votes while Walters received 49.84% (2,015) of the votes.
In the race to represent Trustee Area No. 2, Rachelle Haddoak claimed victory over opponent Suverna Mistry with 53.59% (2,807) of the votes and 46.41% (2,431) of the votes, respectively, according to Tuesday’s certified election results.
Saugus Union School District
In the race to represent Trustee Area No. 1, Cassandra Love pulled ahead and took the lead over opponent Jesus Henao after a tight race.
Love received 52.28% (2,983) of the votes while Henao received 47.72% (2,723) of the votes. Love won the race with 260 votes more than Henao.
Anna Griese won the seat to represent Trustee Area No. 2 after she received 57.73% (4,633) of the votes over incumbent Laura Arrowsmith, who received 42.27% (3,392) of the votes. Arrowsmith dropped out of the race in September after moving out of the trustee area.
In the race to represent Trustee Area No. 5, voters reelected incumbent Christopher Trunkey with 51.61% (3,138) of the votes over opponent Sharlene Duzick, who received 48.39% (2,984) of the votes.
Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency
Bill Cooper won the seat on the SCV Water Agency’s Board of Directors to represent Division 1 with 63.89% (15,251) of the votes over opponents Nicole Wilson and Melissa Cantu, who received 19.87% (4,743) and 16.24% (3,877) of the votes, respectively.
Dirk Marks won the seat to represent Division 2 with 55.56% (15,967) of the votes over opponents Sage Rafferty and Kathy Colley, who received 31.14% (8,949) and 13.29% (3,820) of the votes.
Maria Gutzeit pulled ahead over her opponent Lynne Plambeck in what was a close race. Gutzeit received 51.49% (13,633) of the votes while Plambeck received 48.51% (12,846) of the votes.
