Huber upsets Sieglock in 10th Assembly race

Complete local election results

Huber held a 505-vote lead on Wednesday with most votes tabulated. She is due to be sworn in Monday.

Earlier this week, Sieglock had held a 1,081-vote lead as election officials in four counties continued to process vote-by-mail and provisional ballots after election day. That's almost an 1,500-vote swing in just a few days.

Jack Sieglock

A Huber victory would give the Democrats 51 of the Assembly's 80 seats, the most since 1978.

"It's pretty shocking and disappointing — and virtually unprecedented," Sieglock said. "I suspect the current numbers will hold barring divine intervention."

As of Wednesday, Huber had 88,218 votes (46.7 percent), while Sieglock had 87,711 votes (46.4 percent) and Libertarian Janice Bonser had 13,088 (6.9 percent).

The two candidates had been vying for the seat of termed-out Lodi Republican Alan Nakanishi. Nakanishi said Sieglock's name had been placed on the door of his Capitol office, but on Wednesday workers removed Sieglock's name and installed Huber's.

How the vote count changed

Republican candidate Jack Sieglock led for most of November in the 10th Assembly District race, but Democrat Alyson Huber forged ahead this week. Here is a summary of the vote at different times in November.

Nov. 17
Sieglock: 84,175 (46.9 percent)
Huber: 83,229 (46.3 percent)

Nov. 20
Sieglock: 84,314 (46.9 percent)
Huber: 83,307 (46.3 percent)

Nov. 24
Sieglock: 84,480 (46.9 percent)
Huber: 83,399 (46.3 percent)

Nov. 26
Huber: 88,219 (46.7 percent)
Sieglock: 87,714 (46.4 percent)

Source: California Secretary of State's Office

Sieglock wouldn't confirm if he would seek a recount due to the closeness of the election. If he wants a recount, Sieglock would need to present a written request no later than Monday, and it would cost Sieglock a large sum of money. Brad Buyse from the Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections said the cost would depend on how long it would take to count the votes a second time.

Sieglock said that the state should consider election reform because there are too many opportunities for voter fraud in California.

He suggested that many of the provisional ballots counted since the Nov. 4 election belonged to non-citizens.

He contended that provisional ballots were handed out like "candy at Halloween" in Sacramento County, where Huber led by more than 12,000 votes.

"It's fairly unprecedented to have a 1,000-vote lead on election day and have the numbers turn," Sieglock said. "And it's even more unprecedented to have 80 percent counted and have it turn by 1,500 votes." Provisional ballots are given to people who show up at the polls but are not on the list of voters at that polling place. The ballots are counted only after election officials verify that the people who cast them were eligible to vote.

"I kind of feel like this election was stolen from us," Sieglock said. "I don't think the secretary of state's addressing it."

Huber said she didn't understand why Sieglock was questioning the election because he had representatives counting votes throughout the voting process.

"I think the election reflects the vote of the registered voters on election day," Huber said. "I can understand why Jack Sieglock is not happy with the result."

Sieglock added that his defeat was not caused by the Democratic wave led by President-elect Barack Obama. It was more due to Huber and the California Democratic Party spending $1.5 million on her campaign.

The sprawling 10th District covers the Lodi area except for Thornton and areas east of Bruella Road, all of Amador County and parts of Sacramento and El Dorado counties.

Huber, seeking public office for the first time, describes herself as a conservative Democrat. She grew up in Lodi and graduated from Lodi High. She now is an attorney for a San Francisco-based law firm and lives in El Dorado Hills.

"When I started my campaign for state Assembly, many people said that this seat was not winnable," Huber said in a prepared statement. "But growing up, I had overcome tougher obstacles. So I committed myself to this campaign, and with the help of so many dedicated supporters, we prevailed."

Sieglock served eight years on the Lodi City Council, including two years as mayor, and eight years on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors before being termed out in 2006. He was replaced on the board by Ken Vogel.

Sieglock said he will continue his consulting practice and rental property management.

While he accused California of possible voting improprieties, Sieglock remained philosophical about his future.

"It's a race," he said. "It's about life, your family and your friends — and God."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Lodian wrote on Dec 2, 2008 4:51 PM:

" New blood. It's a good thing. "

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