Assembly write-in Bennett fares near 8%
Henry T. Perea might want to prepare for a more difficult re-election campaign in November.
After having one contender, Geoff Lickey, drop out early in the cycle, Perea faced a last minute GOP challenge from a write-in candidate named James Bennett on the ballot Tuesday.
Bennett’s quick entry benefitted greatly from California’s new “Top 2″ primary system in which the top two vote getters advance to the general election, regardless of party. For Bennett, that required receiving only one vote.
He fared far better than that standard, as it turns out. With plenty of ballots remaining to be counted after the election last Tuesday, Bennett is running an estimated 8% share of the vote, a fairly large portion of the vote considering he hasn’t really campaigned or fundraised yet.
According to the Fresno County Elections Office, write-ins constituted about 1389 votes, or 8.03%. It’s possible that Bennett will receive most of those votes.