Hanford Republican Andy Vidak led the 16th district senate race Wednesday morning with 54 percent of the vote and all of the precincts reporting statewide.
Bakersfield Democrat Leticia Perez had 46 percent of the vote. Perez said she would not concede the race until thousands of provisional ballots had been counted.
After initial results were reported in the June primary, it appeared Vidak had eeked out an outright victory. Several days later when all the provisional ballots had been counted, elections officials said Vidak fell 114 votes short and there would be a runoff.
Perez awaited the special election results at the Carpenters Hall in Bakersfield.
"We knew we'd be behind going into the night but just like last time you saw the late provisionals cast and late ballots broke very heavily in our favor," Perez said.
Vidak watched the returns roll in Tuesday night at his farm in Hanford.
"We're going to win," Vidak said. "We don't need to send somebody who is a recycled staffer or a politician. We need to send someone who's signed both sides of a paycheck.
The 16th district covers all of Kings county and parts of Tulare and Fresno counties. In Kern County, the cities of Delano, McFarland, Wasco, Shafter, Buttonwillow, and parts of Arvin, Lamont and a sliver of northeast Bakersfield are included in the district.
Bakersfield Democrat Leticia Perez had 46 percent of the vote. Perez said she would not concede the race until thousands of provisional ballots had been counted.
After initial results were reported in the June primary, it appeared Vidak had eeked out an outright victory. Several days later when all the provisional ballots had been counted, elections officials said Vidak fell 114 votes short and there would be a runoff.
Perez awaited the special election results at the Carpenters Hall in Bakersfield.
"We knew we'd be behind going into the night but just like last time you saw the late provisionals cast and late ballots broke very heavily in our favor," Perez said.
Vidak watched the returns roll in Tuesday night at his farm in Hanford.
"We're going to win," Vidak said. "We don't need to send somebody who is a recycled staffer or a politician. We need to send someone who's signed both sides of a paycheck.
The 16th district covers all of Kings county and parts of Tulare and Fresno counties. In Kern County, the cities of Delano, McFarland, Wasco, Shafter, Buttonwillow, and parts of Arvin, Lamont and a sliver of northeast Bakersfield are included in the district.