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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The early results in the race for the District 1 supervisorial seat once again show a tight race that isn’t expected to be decided until final results are certified next month.
As of 4 a.m. Wednesday, the count released by the Lake County Registrar of Voters showed the race between District 1 Planning Commissioner John Hess and rancher Helen Owen as being separated by a narrow margin.
Owen was shown as leading with 722 votes, or 54.45%, to Hess’ 604 votes, or 45.55%.
At that point, all 12 precincts had been counted but many more ballots are yet to be tallied.
The two also had a tight race in March. Hess held a two-vote lead over Owen in a five-candidate field in the initial March primary tally. However, with the final count in April, Owen took the lead. She received 1,185 votes, or 39.06%, followed by Hess, with 1,006 votes or 33.16%.
“That’s exactly what I’ve expected,” said Hess in the phone call with Lake County News soon after the first early results were announced on election night.
“I just think it’s too early to do much interpreting, with only 13% of that vote in,” said Hess of the ballots that had been counted at that point.
The best insight he had, Hess said, was that he's “cautiously optimistic.”
On Election Day, Hess said he waved signs on Highway 29 and Hartmann Road, and made a lot of phone calls with people, “urging them to vote.”
Then he went to an election party with some candidates running for other races such as the Clearlake and Lakeport city councils. Hess said the party was held at Clearlake Mayor David Claffey’s home, who’s also in a re-election campaign.
Hess headed home at about 10 p.m. “I’ll be checking repeatedly,” he said of the election results that were expected to be updated throughout the night on the county’s website.
For Owen, who is temporarily nine votes behind, “I’m glad the campaign’s over.” It also feels like a replay of the primary election earlier this year.
“In March, I was down and then the week before it was finalized, I jumped up,” she said. “I have a lot of hope that we make it in and that we can get some stuff done.”
Owen said she spent most of the day at the roundabout at Highway 29 and Hartmann road with her team, waving signs, dancing with music played from her phone, for four hours in the morning and another four hours in the afternoon.
Owen couldn’t remember what time she left there, but “those street lights were on, so it was dark,” she said. After that she and her team celebrated the campaign in a watch party at the Lion’s Club.
“We ran a good campaign with a lot less money and I’m pretty proud that we were able to accomplish what we accomplished with a fraction of money,” she said.
This result is preliminary and is subject to change with more information released from the county’s Registrar of Voters. No new updates have been made on the race by 3 a.m.
Email Lingzi Chen at
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- Written by: LINGZI CHEN
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — With only a small percentage of the thousands of ballots cast in Lake County counted, most races in Lake County on Wednesday remain too close to call even in an initial count.
By 4 a.m., initial counts of the county’s 48 precincts had been completed, putting the count at just under 21% of registered voters.
Based on past presidential elections in Lake County, voter turnout is expected to be over 70% when the final count is completed.
With the California Secretary of State’s Office reporting it must fully certify all races by Dec. 13 — with county elections offices to complete their work between Dec. 3 and 6 — it will be weeks before most races will be known definitively.
Early Wednesday, candidates in city council and school board races were separated by narrow margins with only fractions of the total votes counted.
At the elections office, thousands of ballots are waiting to be tallied during the official canvass period, which starts Wednesday.
One race that does appear to have a clearer potential outcome revolves around Measure U, the countywide advisory ballot measure that asks if the name of the town of Kelseyville should be renamed to Konocti.
Based on the early count of 48 county precincts, “no” votes totaled 5,429 or 71.99%, versus “yes” votes of 2,112, or 28.01%.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol released additional information about a crash that killed a Middletown bicyclist on Monday evening.
The victim was a 73-year-old Middletown man whose name was not released in a Tuesday report pending the notification of next of kin.
The CHP’s Clear Lake Area office reported that it received a call at 5:08 p.m. Monday about a call about a traffic collision involving a vehicle and a bicyclist on Highway 175 south of Dry Creek Cutoff Road.
When CHP officers arrived at the scene, they determined that the crash victim was riding his bicycle on Dry Creek Cutoff Road, approaching Highway 175.
Richard Whalin, 60, of Yuba City, was driving a 2019 Ford F-350 dually truck, towing a 2018 Carson utility trailer, eastbound on SR-175, approaching Dry Creek Cutoff Rd.
For reasons that the CHP said are still under investigation, the bicyclist entered the roadway directly ahead of Whalin, who attempted to swerve to avoid hitting him.
The CHP said the vehicle and bike collided, resulting in the bicyclist sustaining major injuries.
South Lake County Fire Protection District firefighters attempted lifesaving measures but the man died of his injuries at the scene, the CHP said.
The CHP said the bicyclist was not wearing an approved bicycle helmet at the time of the collision.
Whalin was not injured due to the collision and remained on scene to cooperate with the investigation, the CHP said.
CHP Sgt. Joel Skeen established incident command. Caltrans, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and South Lake County Fire responded to the scene to provide assistance.
The CHP said traffic on Highway 175 was diverted onto Dry Creek Cutoff Road to facilitate the investigation.
Neither drugs nor alcohol were suspected as factors in the crash, the CHP said.
The victim was a 73-year-old Middletown man whose name was not released in a Tuesday report pending the notification of next of kin.
The CHP’s Clear Lake Area office reported that it received a call at 5:08 p.m. Monday about a call about a traffic collision involving a vehicle and a bicyclist on Highway 175 south of Dry Creek Cutoff Road.
When CHP officers arrived at the scene, they determined that the crash victim was riding his bicycle on Dry Creek Cutoff Road, approaching Highway 175.
Richard Whalin, 60, of Yuba City, was driving a 2019 Ford F-350 dually truck, towing a 2018 Carson utility trailer, eastbound on SR-175, approaching Dry Creek Cutoff Rd.
For reasons that the CHP said are still under investigation, the bicyclist entered the roadway directly ahead of Whalin, who attempted to swerve to avoid hitting him.
The CHP said the vehicle and bike collided, resulting in the bicyclist sustaining major injuries.
South Lake County Fire Protection District firefighters attempted lifesaving measures but the man died of his injuries at the scene, the CHP said.
The CHP said the bicyclist was not wearing an approved bicycle helmet at the time of the collision.
Whalin was not injured due to the collision and remained on scene to cooperate with the investigation, the CHP said.
CHP Sgt. Joel Skeen established incident command. Caltrans, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and South Lake County Fire responded to the scene to provide assistance.
The CHP said traffic on Highway 175 was diverted onto Dry Creek Cutoff Road to facilitate the investigation.
Neither drugs nor alcohol were suspected as factors in the crash, the CHP said.
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- Written by: LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — One of the races impacting Lake County that appeared to have a clear outcome on Tuesday night was that for the Fourth Congressional seat.
Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) issued a statement late Tuesday thanking voters for their support in his reelection bid for Congress.
The Fourth Congressional District includes all of Lake and Napa counties, and parts of Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo counties.
Thompson was first elected to Congress in 1998.
“To the voters of the Fourth District: Thank you. It is the greatest honor of my life to serve the people of the community where I was born, grew up, and raised my own family. I am humbled and honored to have earned your trust to continue representing our community in Congress,” Thompson said.
“Know that I will work tirelessly in the upcoming Congress to ensure our community is the best place in the nation to raise a family, start a business, and retire with dignity,” Thompson added. “I remain committed to working across the aisle to find common ground and advance policies that bolster the middle class, lower the cost of housing and health care, address our climate crisis, and help keep our communities safe.”
Thompson easily topped Republican challenger John Munn by a two-to-one margin in the early returns posted by the California Secretary of State’s Office late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
With 100% of the 624 of precincts partially reporting as of 4 a.m., Thompson led with 120,621 votes to Munn’s 62.286, for a 65.9% to 34.1% margin.
Results in all races must be fully certified by Dec. 13, the California Secretary of State’s Office reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson