San Joaquin County went red at the top of the ticket for the first time in 20 years.
The final count of the Nov. 5 balloting completed Tuesday by the Registrar of Voters showed Donald Trump with 128,996 votes and Kamala Harris with 126,647 votes.
The last time San Joaquin County went Republican was in 2004 when George W, Bush was re-elected in a race against John Kerry.
And it marked the first time since 2010 when Carla Fiona was running that a Republican seeking a U.S. Senate seat out polled a Democrat in SJ County. Incumbent Barbara Boxer won the statewide vote 14 years ago.
This year in county returns, Republican Steve Garvey edged Democrat Adam Schiff 50.36 percent to 49.64 percent.
The election results show county voters are open to approving some tax measures but are against state efforts to lower the approval threshold.
County voters supported state school bonds and state bonds for clean water projects in addition to passing the local Delta College bond.
State bonds are secured by the general fund and not property taxes.
However, they rejected lowering the threshold for local bonds encumbering home and other property owners when it comes to infrastructure and affordable housing.
Some 60.41 percent of county voters that cast ballots opposed lowering the percent of yes votes needs for local bonds issued by cities and counties secured by property taxes from the current two thirds down to 55 percent.
The final turnout for the election was 267,627 ballots cast, representing 70.7 percent of the 378,657 registered voters in San Joaquin County.
The following is a breakdown of how voters opted to cast their ballots.
*Early voting, 1,933.
*Vote by mail ballots, 216,794 (of those, 34,000 were returned at the polls on election day.)
*In-person ballots cast on Election Day, 48,900.
All-in-all, roughly 81 percent of votes cast were by mail.
"I want to thank every individual who contributed to the success of the election - from the 1,283 poll workers to ROV staff to every voter who made their voices heard,” said San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, Olivia Hale.
“We put in place multiple measures to ensure every vote was counted accurately and on time. At the end of this election, I can confidently say to every resident that San Joaquin County has once again conducted a transparent and thorough election.”
With the certification of the results of the 2024 Presidential General Election complete, the ROV will present the certified results to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
