Mayor’s race headed to a runoff in November

As of the wee morning hours on Wednesday, the race for San Bernardino Mayor stood as follows first time candidate Helen Tran had received 3,444 votes, the Recalled Former City Attorney Jim Penman had 1,781 votes, and current Mayor John Valdivia trailed with 1,555 votes.  If no one candidate gets above 50% which appears unlikely than the race will go to a two-person recall.  The margin between Penman and Valdivia could be fluid but it appears very likely Tran will be the lead vote getter and likely to make the run-off.

Valdivia has been under relentless attack by his political opponents for years and the damage appears to have been done as he is neck and neck with Penman who was so unpopular with the voters of the City that he was removed from office.  Tran is largely a blank slate electorally and has the backing of the former democratic machine that ran the city into bankruptcy during the Pat Morris and Carey Davis regimes.

One of the harshest critics of Mayor Valdivia, Treasure Ortiz who was endorsed by the San Bernardino Sun, Treasure Ortiz will fall far short in her quest to become mayor.  It appears her constant negativity spewed toward the mayor and the City has not endeared her to the voters.

There is no current estimate for when the final votes would be tallied.