In California polls, Fil-Ams won some and lost some
Winners (from left): State Assemblymember Rob Bonta won another term; Juslyn Manalo won a seat in the Daly City Council; Bob Sampayan won the mayoral seat in Vallejo, California.
LOS ANGELES — Unofficial election results in the different California county registrar offices, Filipino Americans who ran for office Nov. 8 had mixed fortunes.
California State Assemblymember Rob Bonta led the list of Fil-Ams who got to the winner’s circle. He was overwhelmingly reelected to the State Assembly’s 18th District, garnering slightly more than 86 percent of the total votes cast, or 88,621 votes.
Vallejo Councilmember Bob Sampayan won his mayoral bid for in Vallejo, California, a community with a large Fil-Am population. He garnered 12,418 votes, or nearly 41 percent of the total cast, to beat two other candidates. He is the first Filipino American to become Mayor of Vallejo.
Sampayan is not the only Fil-Am in Vallejo to triumph. Fellow kababayans Rozzana Verder-Aliga and Hermie Sunga won their reelection bids to the Vallejo City Council.
Juslyn Manalo, who serves on the Personnel Board in Daly City, was successful in her bid to become a member of the Daly City Council. The San Francisco State University graduate placed second in the race among five candidates who ran for the city council. She garnered 7,356 total votes.
Ruscal Cayangyang won his bid for a short-term post to the Vallejo Unified School District. He garnered a total of 16,080 votes.
Mae Cendana Torlakson and Mike Guingona failed in their bids for elected posts.
Meanwhile, Daly City Councilmember Michael Guingona failed in his bid for San Mateo County Supervisor in District 5. Guingona lost to fellow Daly City Councilmember David Canepa, garnering 8,965 votes to the latter’s 15,941.
Tony Daysog lost his reelection bid for the Alameda City Council, placing third among five candidates, while longtime Councilmember Jim Navarro fell short in his bid for the mayoral post in Union City.
In San Francisco, Marjan Philhour narrowly lost her bid for Supervisor in District 1. Philhour placed second among the 10 candidates who ran for Supervisor in that district, garnering 7,504 votes. Another Fil-Am supervisorial candidate, Magdalena de Guzman lost in District 11.
In Contra Costa County, Mae Cendana Torlakson was beaten by Tim Grayson for the State Assembly race in the 14th District. She garnered 29,431 votes as opposed to Grayson’s 48,586 votes. (With Joseph L. Peralta / AJ Press)
