Election 2010

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman continued wooing the state's nurses Tuesday by sending more than 100,000 of them a four-page letter highlighting her support for nurse staffing ratios and inviting them to join a campaign advisory board of nurses that will consult the candidate on nursing issues.

As her campaign has been doing for weeks, the letter also slams the California Nurses Association as a partisan group that's misusing member dues on political activity.

"For them partisan politics comes first," the letter reads. "That's why they've already spent almost $1.5 million of your dues money on partisan politics, to help only one party (without asking the members I might add.)."

Whitman has already sent other literature to nurses' homes criticizing the CNA's leadership and trumpeting her support for the staffing ratios. Since the primary campaign, the CNA has dispatched dozens of protesters to Whitman events.

Last month, the CNA invited Whitman to address nurses at a public forum to be held Thursday near the candidate's home in Atherton. Although Whitman declined the invitation, the nurses are still expected to rally there.

Photo: CNA Co-President Geri Jenkins rallies against GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman in Oakland on June 25, 2010. (Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee)

UPDATE: CNA Executive Director Rose Anne DeMoro has responded to Whitman's letter, saying the union's members support its political activities.

"Every penny that we've spent to educate the public of why they should be fearful of a Whitman governorship is a penny well spent," DeMoro said. "We're a very transparent organization."

About Whitman going around the union and mailing letters directly to nurses, DeMoro said, "What she's doing is underestimating the intelligence of the registered nurses. Even if they weren't paying attention, all of a sudden, they're against her now."

The independent expenditure committee California Working Families for Jerry Brown for Governor 2010 is running a third ad attacking GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.

This one depicts Whitman as an aloof wealthy former CEO of the online auction firm eBay and accuses her of seeking tax breaks for the state's wealthiest people.

Past ads run by the group have highlighted Whitman's poor voting record and her participating in IPO spinning, in which she was allowed to buy stocks before the general public could.

The committee is funded largely by money from labor unions and is headed by Democratic strategists such as Roger Salazar.

Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei responded this morning:

"Governor Brown's ideology of more taxes, more spending, and more regulations is the real enemy of middle-class Californians. Jerry Brown Incorporated is a political conglomerate of unions and special interests determined to defend Sacramento's status quo and launch misleading attack ads against Meg. Jerry Brown Inc. is learning that voters know Meg Whitman is the only chance for middle-class Californians to get meaningful tax relief, accountability in Sacramento and the jobs our state desperately needs. Meg's plan eliminates the start-up tax for middle-class entrepreneurs and the capital gains tax for smaller investors, and it provides a new tax credit for middle-class homebuyers. What is Jerry Brown offering? Nothing."

The rhetorical battle between Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and the California Nurses Association raged on today with the union inviting the candidate to meet its membership in at least one solo forum without the attendance of her Democratic rival Jerry Brown.

The Whitman campaign had not yet responded this afternoon but was expected to do so shortly.

According to a news release, the forum would be set up at a time convenient for Whitman and feature unscripted audience questions to be moderated by nonpartisan journalists.

"CNA is willing to arrange as many nurse forums as Whitman would like to attend, in order to give thousands of nurses the direct chance to hear from the candidate, with others able to watch via online streaming," the news release read.

For months, members of the nurses union have showed up at Whitman events, holding protests showcasing teacher and actress Elaine Burn dressed up as Queen Meg, a satire of the billionaire candidate.

Last Friday, Whitman publicly asked the union for its membership list so that her campaign could send its members personal appeals. At the same time, the campaign was conducting its own statewide poll of nurses.

The union turned down the request, saying such information was confidential, but invited Whitman to address nurses in person at forums featuring both her and Brown.

Whitman declined that invitation, with campaign manager Jilian Hasner saying in a news release she had informed the union "the campaign would not accept debate invitations from partisan political groups with a narrow agenda."

Photo: Teacher Elaine Burn appears as Queen Meg, a parody of Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, during an April 23, 2010, protest in Sacramento. (Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee)

While the state Republican and Democratic parties have opposed the voter-approved open primary measure Proposition 14, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown expressed support Tuesday for the idea, saying it could help break partisan gridlock paralyzing Sacramento.

When asked by The Bee in March about the initiative, Brown refused to take a position.

Brown was in Mountain View on Tuesday to announce an eight-point plan for investing in renewable energy technology, which he says will create more than half a million green jobs. He opened his remarks to the Silicon Valley Leadership Group by lamenting polarizing partisan politics. He then segued into Proposition 14, which would advance the primary's top two vote-getters to the general election, regardless of their party affiliations.

"With the recent enactment of this open primary, that may hold some promise so that people can converge in a more moderate perspective," Brown said. "People can run and appeal to voters from the other party. ... You'd get two members from the same party where you would actually get more choice than you might otherwise get if you have parties as gatekeepers as they are now.

"This has the possibility of opening that up, and therefore it gives me some optimism."

Brown warned, however: "Most of the history of reform is one of unintended consequences."

The candidate also voiced his support, albeit with tongue in cheek, for the landmark 1978 voter-approved Proposition 13, which limited the growth of property taxes, among other actions. As governor, Brown had opposed the initiative but then turned into a supporter after voters approved it.

"My thoughts on Prop. 13, look, next to the 10 commandments and the Bill of Rights, I can't think of a better expression of human wisdom," Brown said.

The candidate had been talking about defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner, whom Whitman had accused of undermining Proposition 13 because he had supported a 2000 voter initiative that lowered the vote threshold to pass school bonds.

"I just look at the poor fellow, Mr. Poizner," Brown said. "Here's this guy, sincere guy, he really is, I don't know if he knows what hit him, with all these ads, here's a guy who was asked by Pete Wilson, the chairman of the Whitman campaign, would he help with Proposition 39, which would lower the two-thirds for school bonds to 55 percent."

Brown added later, "What does the ad say: Poizner destroying Prop. 13 and raising taxes $23 billion. So don't expect anything like that from me. Mum's the word."

Whitman spokeswoman Sarah Pompei later criticized Brown for not offering enough policy details in his talk to the business group, highlighting a comment Brown made when asked about transportation funding.

Brown had answered, "How do you do things without any money? Very difficult, but I have a plan. I'll tell you after the election," sparking laughter from the crowd.

Brown then said he supported "pay as you go" and not borrowing money to pay for projects.

Pompei said in a written statement: "Governor Brown's outright refusal to provide any specifics to voters continued today. In a revealing moment at a Silicon Valley event this morning, Governor Jerry Brown openly mocked the idea of sharing specifics with voters about how he would address government spending until after Election Day. This election and this issue are far too important for Governor Brown to continue to dodge questions, avoid specifics, and shirk responsibility. Simply put: California voters deserve more."

Sterling Clifford of the Brown campaign responded, "Perhaps the Whitman staffer assigned to stalk Jerry should have picked up a copy of Jerry's clean energy jobs plan on the way out before his boss goes on an uninformed twitter rant."

Brown met with reporters later in which he was asked about his comments comparing Whitman's media strategy to that of Nazi propaganda master Joseph Goebbels. The remarks were reported by a journalist who had bumped into Brown while jogging.

"I talked to people of the Holocaust center, and they completely understand," Brown said. "I will tell you this, jogging in the hills with sweaty strangers will no longer result in conversations. Mum's the word."

UPDATE 2:01 p.m. with Sterling Clifford's comment.

Photo: Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown meets audience members after a talk to the Silicon Valley Leadership Group on June 15, 2010, in Mountain View, Calif. (Jack Chang/Sacramento Bee)

The state Democratic ticket made its first joint appearance Thursday morning at the Solaria solar panel plant in Fremont, where gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown said his party's ticket represented much-needed frugality and authenticity compared to the Republicans' free-spending ways.

Brown also laid out more details about how he would balance the state's budget, such as starting the budget process before January every year and taking budget proposals to the ballot.

If anything, Brown showed Thursday why he's one of the most quotable people in state politics, speaking at a quick patter and shooting out a thick mix of attacks, jokes and data. Whitman, by contrast, stays closely to talking points when talking to crowds and the media.

"The governor is one person, the Legislature is the other, you've got to bring us all together in a very deliberative process," Brown said to dozens of media and white-jacketed company employees. "We'll cut everything we can."

Brown spent much of the morning repeating his challenge to Republican rival Meg Whitman to debate, dismissing her criticisms that he hadn't released enough policy details yet. Whitman has said she's done just that by putting out a 48-page policy booklet.

Brown's take? "She doesn't have a plan," he said. "She has a pamphlet, and most of it is pictures."

The state Democrats debuted their statewide ticket Thursday at the Solaria solar panel plant in Fremont. Attending were gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, Lt. Gov. hopeful Gavin Newsom, Attorney General nominee Kamala Harris, Treasurer candidate Bill Lockyer, Insurance Commissioner candidate Dave Jones, state Controller nominee John Chiang and Secretary of State candidate Debra Bowen.

The camera was rolling Wednesday morning when Carly Fiorina made some small talk she might come to regret. Watch her comment on, among other things, Barbara Boxer's hairstyle.

Watch the video, originally on Sacramento's KXTV Channel 10, below.

By Ryan Lillis
rlillis@sacbee.com

Sacramento City Councilman Robbie Waters said Wednesday a series of factors worked against his bid for a fifth term.

Waters said Bee articles about his son, Dan, negative mailers sent to voters and an anti-incumbent sentiment all hurt his chances. With most votes counted, Waters is a distant third in the District 7 race, trailing Ryan Chin and Darrell Fong.

Waters' son, Dan, was first in the news last year when it was revealed he had granted permits to build homes in Natomas in violation of a building ban there.

Dan Waters worked for the city's development department at the time, but was later suspended and then transferred. A broad - and politically-charged - investigation of the development department ensued.

More recently, The Bee reported that Dan Waters had worked on permits for a Natomas sushi restaurant where he is the registered owner of a cigar bar. The Fair Political Practices Commission launched an investigation in response to that coverage.

In the days leading up to the election, the building trades association funded a mailer depicting Robbie Waters as a puppet of Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Waters said that "because I've never cowed down to the unions in the 16 years I've been here, they've been after me. They think they run this town and they don't," he said.

Waters said he looks proudly on his tenure in on the council, as well as four years as Sacramento sheriff and another 24 with the Sacramento Police Department. And he said his legacy would live on in the form of a new library in the Pocket that is being named after him, an honor he said was surpassed only by his marriage and the births of his three children.

He also had a sense of relief of not qualifying for an expensive run-off with either Fong or Chin, saying, "It's a blessing we don't have to go through that."

Call The Bee's Ryan Lillis, (916) 321-1085.

The road to Congress has just gotten easier for former Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles.

Bass, who is considered a shoo-in to succeed Rep. Diane Watson, won 85 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary, easily beating three challengers in California's safely Democratic 33rd Congressional District, where African American and Latino voters predominate.

Watson, a 76-year-old Democrat, has announced her retirement at the end of the term.

Bass will face Republican attorney James L. Andion in the Nov. 2 general election.

"The campaign is not over, and neither are the challenges we face in our communities, our state, and our country," the assemblywoman said in a statement.

By Ryan Lillis
rlillis@sacbee.com

Sacramento County elections officials have 80,000 ballots left to count, leaving some races in the county too close to call.

County elections spokesman Brad Buyse said his office would provide its next update on results late Friday.

"As far as we're concerned, the election is still on," Buyse said.

According to the elections office's website, roughly 320,000 ballots were cast Tuesday in the county.

Included in the uncounted ballots are absentee ballots dropped off at polling places on Tuesday and vote by mail ballots received by the elections office in recent days.

Buyse said his office is "not going to be calling elections or making predictions at this time."

Among the closest races left undecided was in Sacramento City Council District 1, covering Natomas and downtown. Challenger Angelique Ashby led with 50.98 percent of the vote, ahead of three-term Councilman Ray Tretheway's 41.55 percent.

Ashby was just 82 votes above earning 50 percent of the vote. That means Tretheway needs to make up at least 83 votes in the remaining ballots to force a November run-off.

Call The Bee's Ryan Lillis, (916) 321-1085.

Old vs. new. Public sector vs. private. Three-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer vs. Republican U.S. Senate nominee Carly Fiorina.

Fiorina, the former CEO of tech giant Hewlett-Packard, was pushing California voters to make those connections Wednesday as she launched her general election campaign at a state GOP victory rally held at the Hilton hotel in Anaheim.

Fiorina also answered Boxer's debate challenge, made just hours after Fiorina was declared the winner last night, by saying with some bravado, "Barbara, I'll debate you anytime anywhere. As far as I'm concerned, we can debate once a week."

The Republican, however, made one debate demand, that they schedule one meeting in Mendota in the Central Valley, "where unemployment is skyrocketing because the federal government has decided that families don't need water."

Throughout her victory rally speech, Fiorina said she, GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and other statewide candidates were fresh faces from the private sector while Boxer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown were career politicians.

"The contrast could not be more clear," Fiorina told the audience. "I know and this team knows that the government does not create new jobs."

When asked after the rally how she would appeal to independent voters, who lean Democratic in the state and are crucial to Republican chances, Fiorina answered that she planned to concentrate on jobs and economic issues.

"We talk to Californians in common sense terms," Fiorina said. "While government is spending more and more of your money, we have been losing more and more jobs."

The candidate hit the same note when asked about Boxer's criticism of her anti-abortion stance.

"Barbara Boxer is really trying to change the subject," Fiorina said. "The subject in this election is jobs. The subject in this election is out-of-control government."

Newly minted Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman sidestepped Democratic rival Jerry Brown's invitation this morning to participate in 10 town halls, saying he should release more policy details before debating.

Whitman also argued that she had spent her money well in the primary. Her campaign burned through about $90 million -- including $71 million of her own wealth -- to win 1.1 million votes, at a price of roughly $90 per vote.

As she did throughout the primary, Whitman mostly stayed on script during her news conference, which followed a rambunctious GOP victory rally held in the Hilton hotel in Anaheim showcasing the party's statewide candidates. Whitman's speech at the rally largely echoed the speech she gave last night at her election night party, where she again talked about her three focuses of cutting government spending, fixing education and creating jobs.

"There will be plenty of debates," Whitman said about Brown's challenge when asked about it by a reporter. "What I would say to Jerry Brown is instead of calling for debates, he should lay out his plan for California. You know, his Web site has virtually nothing on it. I would call for Jerry Brown to lay out his plan for California, so we'll at least have something to debate about."

About the low-turnout yesterday despite the record spending, Whitman answered, "I'm the Republican nominee for the state of California, so I am delighted with the results. And what I think what we did very well is we got our message out around creating and keeping good jobs in California, about cutting government spending and fixing our K-12 education system. No one worked harder than I did for the people of California."

Whitman said she's going to focus on jobs in the general election and highlight her 30 years of business experience, which includes a decade leading the online auction firm eBay.

"I'm going to talk about jobs, and the contrast between me and Jerry Brown in terms of who has created jobs and cut budgets," Whitman said. "I know more about the economy than anyone in this race, and that's going to be a contrast."

During her rally speech, Whitman addressed what will likely be a principal line of Democratic attack, her massive personal spending on her campaign.

"People ask me all the time, 'Can elections be bought?'" Whitman said. "The answer is elections cannot be bought but candidates can, and Jerry Brown is bought and paid for by the union bosses. We are going to stand up to those union bosses and we are going to take California back."

Photo: Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman and her husband Griffith Harsh greet supporters in Los Angeles June 8, 2010. (Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee)

Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco lost his post to Riverside Superior Court Judge Paul Zellerbach in yesterday's primary.

Zellerbach beat Pacheco, who had served just one term, 52.8 percent to 47.2 percent.

Alert readers recognize Pacheco as the Riverside assemblyman who served a very brief stint as Republican leader in 1998.

Here's how the Riverside Press-Enterprise described the dynamic in the race:

"Pacheco pilloried Zellerbach as a wayward, soft-on-crime judge who had been publicly admonished by the Commission on Judicial Performance. The Pacheco media blitz also went after Zellerbach's supporters.

Pacheco touted his injunctions against gangs and his corruption probe of San Jacinto which led to the indictment of nine people, including four San Jacinto City Council members.

But voters agreed with Zellerbach's portrayal of Pacheco as an abrasive manager who drove experienced prosecutors from his office, used gamesmanship with the county on budget matters, and clogged the courts with unneeded trials of cases that should have been settled."

Find results for all elections in the six-county greater Sacramento area, using these links to each county's registrar of voters. Results posted are unofficial and some might be incomplete.

El Dorado County election results

Placer County election results

Sacramento County election results

Sutter County election results

Yolo County election results

Yuba County election results

Longtime Sacramento Supervisor Roger Dickinson is leading Sacramento City Councilman Kevin McCarty by 33 votes in the Democratic primary in the 9th Assembly District.

But more than 30,000 ballots still need to be counted before a winner is declared, elections officials said today.

Alice Jarboe, assistant to the Sacramento registrar of voters, said officials have processed 25,000 yet-to-be counted absentee ballots that were turned in on Election Day, with "lots and lots" more still in the envelope. In addition to 4,000 provisional ballots that also need to be counted, Jarboe said staff still has to check several thousand ballots marred by extra pen marks, tears or "too much coffee and jam."

"For our county, if something is very close, we will be scrutinizing the counting of that contest," Jarboe said.

Dickinson and McCarty were two of five Democrats running for the nomination in a district where Democrats' registration advantage virtually guarantees a win in November.

The field also included Sacramento Councilwoman Lauren Hammond and Chris Garland, political director for the California Faculty Association.

The winner will face Republican Rick Redding in the November race to replace termed-out Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento.

The close Assembly contest isn't the first time a local race has come down to a handful of votes. In 2007, the contest for a seat on the Arcohe Union School District in southern Sacramento County came down to one vote.

"People say one vote doesn't make a difference, it did in that race," Jarboe said.

The county have until early July to submit a final count to the Secretary of State. After that point, parties can request a formal recount of the results.

An energized state Republican party launched the general election campaign this morning at a victory rally at the Hilton hotel in Anaheim. The theme of the day and perhaps of the campaign: The GOP nominees represent new blood while the Democratic ticket is dominated by career politicians.

Without a doubt, the GOP ticket is its most diverse in years in ethnicity and gender. It's led by two women -- gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman and U.S. Senate nominee Carly Fiorina; a Latino -- Lt. Gov. nominee Abel Maldonado; and an African American -- Secretary of State nominee Damon Dunn.

Fiorina drove home the theme, saying, "This election is about the future, not the past, not the tired old politics from a bunch of kind of tired old career politicians." She was referring to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown and U.S. Senate incumbent Barbara Boxer.

The crowd of several hundred people who filled a hotel ballroom ate up the rhetoric, cheering and applauding the meatier lines such as this from Fiorina about Boxer's debate challenge, "Here's what I say, bring it on, any time, any place!"

A house band pumped up the crowd with Journey's "Don't Stop Believing," and the candidates took the stage to booming techno music.

In her speech, Whitman highlighted the diversity of the ticket, which also includes controller candidate state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, Attorney General candidate Steve Cooley and state Treasurer nominee Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Hills.

Another, less flattering pattern among the statewide candidates: three of them have rarely voted -- Whitman, Fiorina and Dunn.

Tuesday's election was definitely a mixed bag for the Strickland family. While state Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, easily captured the GOP nomination for state controller, his wife's bid for a seat on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors fell way short.

Audra Strickland, who succeeded her husband in the Assembly but is being forced out of the Legislature by term limits, wanted to run for Ventura treasurer-tax collector but was thwarted when county supervisors rewrote specifications for the office, making her ineligible. She then decided to challenge Supervisor Linda Parks but Parks captured nearly two-thirds of the vote.

Tony Strickland faces an uphill battle as the Republican nominee for state controller since he's dueling with Democratic incumbent John Chiang and incumbents in down-ballot statewide races are almost never defeated -- especially Democratic incumbents in a state with a strong Democratic registration margin.

The good news for the Strickland family is that even if Strickland loses his bid for controller, he was just elected to the Senate in 2008, so he won't be termed out until 2016. And of course his wife could then run for his Senate seat.

Newly minted Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown greeted a media throng in Los Angeles, seemingly amazed by the new attention for his generational encore run to be California's next governor.

"I haven't seen this many microphones for a long time," said the attorney general and former governor.

And then Brown, who was last governor from 1975 to 1983, declared he has both the wisdom and contemporary know-how to lead California out of deep fiscal crisis and a severe public lack of confidence in state government.

"I've been there, standing in the face of a storm," he said as he pledged to lead the state in tackling "very painful choices that lay ahead of us."

He also challenged Republican nominee and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman to participate, and field media questions, in 10 joint town hall experiences around California.

"Let's go to the people of California and have an unscripted exchange about the issues we face," Brown said.

He suggested that the town halls should replace -- or at least augment -- the "relentless TV commercials" that Whitman has unleashed.

"If she's serious about dealing with the Legislature and dealing with the problems, she ought to deal with me," Brown said.

The 72-year-old ex-governor again signaled that he will running an aggressive, anti-Wall Street campaign, one that paints Whitman as a corporate insider with little acumen to tackle problems of state budgeting or the concerns of average Californians.

"I have a history of this. Whitman only has a history of spending money wildly to get whatever she wants," Brown said.

Whitman spent $90 million on the primary against Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

Brown has $20 million on hand for the November primary. But he is also being backed by union-supported campaign group, California Working Families for Jerry Brown for Governor 2010, that has a budget of as much as $30 million.

The anti-corporate candidate was challenged by reporters over whether he will be beholden to unions if elected governor.

"I stand here now for everyone to hear, including the legislators and the unions: I'm going to be an independent servant of the people of the state."

By Ed Fletcher
efletcher@sacbee.com

The executive committee of Placer County Republican Central Committee was dealt an Election Day blow with chairman Tom Hudson and his chief lieutenant getting the least votes in Tuesday's GOP central committee race.

Hudson, left, received the least votes in the balloting to represent the 1st Supervisorial District, placing sixth among six candidates for four seats. George Park, who served as the committee's first vice chairman, was sixth among six candidates for four spots representing the 4th district.

Hudson and the executive committee's practice of attacking party members -- including elected office holders -- viewed as not Republican enough had become controversial. Hudson also played a key role in the committee's contributions to a San Diego-area assemblyman, which resulted in a state campaign finance investigation.

Over the last year, two GOP officeholders in Placer County switched their party designation to "decline to state," after having their party credentials questioned by Hudson.

Call The Bee's Ed Fletcher, (916) 321-1269.

Previous coverage:

Placer County GOP chairman becomes an issue - Dec. 28, 2009

FPPC clears Placer GOP, but Rocklin councilman quits party in disgust - Dec. 3, 2009

By Sam Stanton
sstanton@sacbee.com

If you want a sense of how much the Sacramento County sheriff's race turned voters off, consider how many people chose not to vote in that particular race.

About 147,000 votes were cast for candidates in the race, with Capt. Scott Jones getting about 46 percent, compared to about 41 percent for Capt. Jim Cooper, final results from the county elections office show.

But more than 19,000 people who voted simply skipped over the race on their ballots, possibly because of the negative tone the campaign took.

The 19,324 "under vote" outpaced the 17,284 votes garnered by former Deputy Bret Daniels.

It was, in essence, a vote for "none of the above."

That result makes it critical for one of the top two candidates to find a way to appeal to the voters in the fall runoff.

A first step in that process may come as early as next week, when the Sheriff's Department begins talks with the county over potentially brutal budget cuts that have been proposed.

Retiring Sheriff John McGinness said late Tuesday that he would offer the opportunity to both Jones and Cooper to take part in the discussions over how to handle the budget crisis.

McGinness has endorsed Jones and already has involved him in the budget process as a key adviser. Cooper said late Tuesday he would accept McGinness' offer. As a captain in the department, he already has been involved in budget meetings.

But the layoff of 122 deputies last year and threatened new cuts likely will be a key part of the race over the next part of the campaign.

Jones and Cooper both said throughout the primary that they wanted to run their campaigns based on issues rather than mudslinging.

But Cooper's backers -- and, at times, Cooper himself -- spent time attacking Jones, while Jones refrained from speaking negatively about any of the candidates.

Whether issues are the focus going forward is unclear, as is how Jones' first-place primary finish might boost his fundraising.

The final results reported by the elections department this morning:

SCOTT JONES: 67,822, 46.17 percent

JIM COOPER: 60,762, 41.37 percent

BRET DANIELS: 17,284, 11.77 percent

WRITE-IN: 1,024, .70 percent

Over Votes: 29

Under Votes: 19,324

Call The Bee's Sam Stanton, (916) 321-1091.

Precinct voting map:

Election 2010: Sacramento County sheriff

Previous coverage:

3 candidates bring baggage to Sacramento County sheriff's race - April 18, 2010

Profile: Sheriff's Capt. Jim Cooper - April 18, 2010

Profile: Ex-Deputy Bret Daniels - April 18, 2010

Profile: Sheriff's Capt. Scott Jones - April 18, 2010