Assembly District 2 Race Winners Emerge

We finally have an answer in the last remaining unsettled race from the primary election ballot we filled out earlier this month: the contest for Healdsburg politician Jim Wood’s second-district seat in the California State Assembly, representing the state’s entire North Coast. Although election officials haven’t yet formally announced the two Assembly District 2 winners who will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot, the candidates themselves are making the call. It became clear very early on in the ballot-counting process that the sole Republican in the race — Mike Greer, a school board trustee from Del Norte County way up north — would move ahead to the general election. And he’s still clinching the No. 1 spot, with about 27.5 percent of the vote. But among the six Democratic candidates, three of them have been neck-and-neck from the start: Santa Rosa City Councilman Chris Rogers, closely followed by California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks, followed by Healdsburg City Counclilmember Ariel Kelley. Ariel conceded a week-and-a-half ago. And late last week, Rusty Hicks conceded as well. So Chris Rogers is our guy! Which makes him the favorite to win the seat in November, since our State Assembly district leans Democrat. Chris wrote on Facebook last week: “We can now confidently say that when every vote is counted, we will be moving forward to a run-off in November’s General Election. When we first entered this race, we were told that we would be buried in money — that a local candidate would be drowned out. That the proverbial ‘David’ didn’t stand a chance. But in a race with millions of dollars in outside spending, we had a secret weapon: you. So many of you not only stood with me but stuck your necks out to support our campaign — and your belief that we should win gave me confidence that we could. Together, we had one heck of a slingshot, and I’m so grateful. Onward to November!” Rusty Hicks got some flak throughout his campaign for not giving up his job as the leader of California’s Democratic Party during the race. One would assume that he’s pretty glad he didn’t, right about now — and it means he’ll likely be collaborating with Rogers, if the Democrats do take the seat again. Hicks tells the Press Democrat: “I know the North Coast will continue to be well represented in the State Assembly and I look forward to the opportunity to work with [Rogers] to deliver for the North Coast.” Keep your eye out in this week’s print issue of the Healdsburg Tribune for more on Rogers, our potential new state assemblyman! (Source: Chris Rogers via Facebook & Healdsburg Tribune & Healdsburg Tribune & California Secretary of State & Press Democrat)