Pardo, Engram carve out leads in Sonoma County judge, sheriff races

The top vote-getters in races for Sonoma County sheriff and Superior Court judge have widened their leads slightly in the latest batch of local June 7 election results.

As of Wednesday, 97,728 ballots had been counted, bringing voter turnout to 32.15%. The new tally added 13,560 votes to returns last updated Monday.

Sonoma County Registrar of Voters Deva Proto estimated there are 40,000 ballots left to count. She said she expects turnout will reach close to 45%.

Races for sheriff, superior court judge and Sonoma County superintendent of schools have hung in the balance, too close to call, as ballot returns have inched up since the primary.

Eddie Engram, the county’s assistant sheriff, remains just above the margin that would propel him into the sheriff’s post without need for a November runoff. He had 50.22% of 89,429 counted votes in the race. Carl Tennenbaum, a retired San Francisco police sergeant, had 28.43% and Dave Edmonds, a retired Sheriff’s Office captain, had 13.19%.

Kevin Burke, the former Healdsburg police chief who had pulled out of the sheriff’s race and died in April, had 8.17% of the vote.

In the judge’s race, Oscar Pardo, a civil litigator, received 51.76% of 84,491 votes counted so far, strengthening his edge over Joe Passalacqua, a defense attorney, who received 48.24%.

The tight battle for Sonoma County superintendent of schools still looks to be headed for a runoff between Amie Carter and Brad Coscarelli. Carter, an assistant superintendent with the Marin County Office of Education, received 44.59% of 83,576 counted votes by Wednesday, and Coscarelli, the principal of Hidden Valley Elementary, received 34.33%.

Ron Meza Calloway, superintendent of the Mark West Union School District and the third candidate in the race, received 21.09%.

In the 2nd District supervisor race, incumbent David Rabbitt saw his lead dip by about 2 percentage points, but he still holds enough of a margin to avoid a runoff. Rabbitt has 55.34% of 19,388 counted votes, while his closest opponent, Blake Hooper, has 39.62%. Hooper is a Petaluma planning commissioner and legislative consultant in the state Senate.

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.