Voters in Eastern Alameda County and San Joaquin County have cast their ballots to choose the next state Senator for District 5, a newly drawn district.
The race pits longtime congressman Jerry McNerney against state assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, as well as Republican candidate Jim Shoemaker.
Early results show Jim Shoemaker, with a slight lead over Jerry McNerney. Villapudua is coming in third after nearly $3 million in outside expenditures, and lots of TV advertisements, mostly supporting and targeting the two Democrats.
Final results from the election are not expected for several days.
Oil and gas PACs invested heavily in the race, as have labor union representing nurses and educators.
Shoemaker had the least money by far, raising just over $7,000 for his campaign. McNerney’s campaign had raised about $300,000, trailing both the amount spent by the oil and gas group against him and the more than $423,000 raised by Villapudua through Feb. 17. The largest amount of money in support of McNerney has come from the nursing, education and reproductive rights group.
In an interview with this news organization in late February, McNerney painted Villapudua as a friend of fossil fuels, and noted the same group had supported his opponent in Villapudua’s race for the State Assembly in 2018.
A large portion of the $2.6 million in outside spending in the District 5 election–a surprising amount for a down-ballot primary race–has come from an oil and gas industry PAC, the ‘Coalition to Restore California’s Middle Class,’ whose funders include Chevron, Phillips 66, Marathon Petroleum and Valero.
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