Election 2012: Bonta Edging Past Guillen For 18th Assembly

Alameda vice mayor Rob Bonta may soon be elected the new representative for the 18th Assembly District on Tuesday night.

The district includes San Leandro and Alameda but its largest bloc of voters live in Oakland.

Bonta got 50.79 percent of the vote, narrowly beating Abel Guillen, a trustee of the Peralta Community College District, who got 49.21 percent of the ballots as of last night. However, many uncounted ballots remain, such as absentees dropped off in person. The race could be tight enough to shift.

There was no incumbent in the race. The district was newly drawn after the 2010 census. It was also among the first contests in California to test the top-two primary system, in which the two highest vote getters, regardless of party, run off in the November election.

As a result, Bonta and Guillen, both Democrats, continue to run in a tight race. A total of 98,498 votes were cast so far. Bonta received just 1,558 more votes than Guillen.

The Alameda County Registrar of Voters estimates there are 140,000 late and/or provisional ballots still to be counted. How many of these are from the 18th District and whether they will alter the outcome is unknown.