Sonny Dhaliwal is the new District 3 San Joaquin County Supervisor representing Manteca, Lathrop, northwest Stockton, and the Delta area.

The 63- year-old six-term Lathrop mayor as of Monday was leading former Manteca Mayor Steve DeBrum with 28,718 votes to 26,748 votes.

“I commend Sonny Dhaliwal for his dedication and vision, and I trust that his leadership will strive to address the challenges we face and build upon the opportunities ahead,” DeBrum said in a concession statement Monday.

“To my supporters, thank you for your unwavering belief in our campaign,” DeBrum added. “This is not the end of my commitment to serving our community but rather a new chapter in working collaboratively to achieve shared goals.

Dhaliwal has served Lathrop for 25 years. He’s now in his sixth two-year term as mayor after six years on the council and serving on the planning commission.

Dhaliwal has come a long way since he arrived in America from a small village of 800 in Punjab in 1985 with $20 in his pocket. 

Punjab is a state in northwestern India where his father was a farmer.

The now retired maintenance worker with the San Jose-based Santa Clara Transit Authority first lived with his family in Milpitas.

They were looking for a smaller community to raise their family in and decided on Lathrop.

Dhaliwal is a member of the Stockton Sikh Temple and the Lathrop Lions Club.

He has or is serving on the San Joaquin County Local Agency Formation Commission and the San Joaquin Council of Governments among other endeavors such as the Lathrop Planning Commission.

Manteca, for the past 40 years, had been split between two supervisorial districts with the overwhelming majority of the district population residing within Stockton’s city limits.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com