Lathrop Mayor Sonny Dhaliwal’s lead over challenger John Thanh Do has only grown as more ballot from the 2022 midterm elections were counted and released by the San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters office this week.
As of Nov. 15, Dhaliwal was 2,698 votes ahead of Do, and that number only grew in the ensuing two weeks. Dhaliwal has already claimed victory and said he’s looking forward to his unprecedented sixth term at the helm of the city.
According to the most recent update posted by the registrar’s office to its unofficial results, Dhaliwal now holds a 3,466-vote lead over his challenger, a sign that Lathrop residents appreciate the direction he has helped lead Lathrop over the more than two decades he has been of service to the community where he raised his family.
And he’s not the only incumbent to see gains over the course of the last two weeks.
With two four-year terms available on the Lathrop City Council, challenger Christina Campoy-Laughlin was 912 votes behind incumbent Diane Lazard as of Nov. 15, and now stands 1,039 votes behind her — making the likelihood of catching and overtaking Lazard unlikely in the next week until election results are certified.
Incumbent councilman Paul Akinjo added 801 votes to his total and currently sits in first place with 3,885 votes — or 39.9 percent of all votes that were cast for that race in the election that have been included.
Because vote counting has to stop in order to release an updated vote total, the registrar’s office has opted to release weekly updates as necessary until all of the votes are counted, ensuring that interruptions don’t lead to unnecessary delays in informing the public as soon as possible about the outcome of their elections.
The transition over time to an election dominated by mail ballots — which was accelerated greatly during the pandemic by making all California elections mail only for the 2020 Presidential election — means that additional steps need to be taken to ensure that the vote is counted fairly, and that has meant a longer wait between election night and when the official totals finally come in.
The registrar has a deadline of Dec. 8 to formally certify the results of the election.
Results can be found by visiting the registrar’s website at www.sjrov.gov or the California Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.ca.gov.
To contact Bulletin reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
