Indio election update: Just four votes separate incumbent Waymond Fermon from challenger Gloria Hernandez in District 2

As Riverside County continues to count votes from Tuesday’s election, we’re seeing who has early momentum in races for the Indio City Council, seats that represent the city in the State Legislature, and multiple ballot measures that will affect our area.

In District 2, incumbent Waymond Fermon faces Gloria Hernandez. Fermon leads by just 4 votes, 776 to the challenger Hernandez’s 772 as of 5:30 p.m., Wednesday.

In District 3, candidate Andrea Dolan Bouchard is facing incumbent Elaine Holmes. Holmes leads with 1,375 votes or 67% of the early vote compared to 692 or 33% for Dolan Bouchard.

For District 4, incumbent Oscar Ortiz is not seeking reelection. The two candidates are Indio Planning Commission Vice Chair Felipe Ortiz and former Desert Recreation District board member Jonathan Becerra. Ortiz is ahead with 992 votes to 459 votes for Becerra (68% – 32%)

State and federal races

As for the state-wide race for the 36th Assembly District, Democrat Obeso-Martinez is ahead with 33,974 votes (59%) compared to 23,859 (41%)for Gonzalez.

The 25th Congressional District sees incumbent Democrat Raul Ruiz facing off against Republican Joe Males. The Associated Press declared Ruiz the winner 64% of the vote compared to 36% for Males (69,581 to 38,455).

Local ballot measures

Desert Recreation District is running Measure P, asking voters to approve a new tax that it says will help repair local parks and improve programming. The measure would levy a five cent per building square foot tax, providing $11.3 million for the district. So far, voters appear to be in favor of the ballot measure, with 60% voting to approve the measure, and 40% voting to deny.

Also on the ballot, Measure A from Riverside County asks voters whether to continue an existing half-cent sales tax to be used for traffic relief and road repair. So far, the yes votes lead no votes, 70%-30%.

Coachella Valley Unified School District

Four candidates are running for two seats on Coachella Valley Unified School District’s board, which encompasses a small part of Indio. Incumbent Valerie García is running for reelection, and three new candidates are running: Norma Flores Rivera, Rafael Medina, and Loretta Perez.

García leads the tight race with 3,748 votes or 35% of the vote, followed closely by Perez with 3,345 (31%), Flores Rivera with 1,961 (18%), and Medina with 1,687 (16%).

Desert Healthcare District

Three seats are up for election on the Desert Healthcare District Board of Directors. In Zone 5, representing a portion of Indio, incumbent Anyse Smith is running for reelection against Desiree Wallis. Smith leads with 8,158 (62%) compared to 4,959 or 38% for Wallis.

Coachella Valley Water District

Coachella Valley Water District Division 4 covers a portion of Indio. Incumbent Alejandro Sanchez is running against Pete Chryss. The incumbent Sanchez leads with 4,399 votes (56%) compared to Chryss with 3,504 (44%).

Next steps

Although all precincts have reported initial results, substantial numbers of ballots remain to be counted. The latest Riverside County data shows that an estimated 485,000 Vote-by-Mail and 11,000 Conditional Voter Registration (CVR) ballots remain to be counted.

Voters have until Nov. 25 to correct signature problems with their mail ballots. Work on those begins today. Ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day also remain to be counted.

A complete tally of the votes often takes weeks. The county has 30 days to certify election results and in early December must send one complete copy of the general election returns to the California Secretary of State in an electronic format.

The next updated results will be posted by 6 p.m. Thursday.

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Editor’s note: This story will updated as new vote totals are released. To track all the city races (and those throughout the county), head to this website.

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