Voting signage outside the Sierra County Courthouse in Downieville
SIERRA COUNTY — Sierra and neighboring counties released preliminary election results on Tuesday night. In the first report released by Sierra County, which accounts for the majority of the county’s total vote, President-elect Donald Trump is leading Vice President Kamala Harris by 924 votes to 565. Votes for Trump represent 60.47% of those counted, while for Harris, they represent 36.98%. Sierra County’s turnout is currently 69.62% and is expected to climb as mailed ballots are counted. In 2020, 86.52% of registered Sierra County voters cast their ballot, and Trump carried 58% of the vote.
In the race for California Senator, which has already been called for Democrat Adam Schiff, Sierra County has voted 963 to 540 for Republican candidate Steve Garvey. The county also voted 981 to 539 for Kevin Kiley, who is projected to win his US House of Representatives race for California’s 3rd Congressional District against Jessica Morse.
State Assembly District 1 has gone 670 to 572 for Heather Hadwick over Tenessa Audette. Hadwick has taken a convincing lead in her race after a much closer primary result. Hadwick leads district-wide by over 20,000 votes.
Sierra County voted against all statewide propositions, with the exception of props 35 and 36. Proposition 35 provides permanent funding for Medi-Cal health care services and leads by a narrow margin of 82 votes. Proposition 36, which allows felonies and increases sentences for certain drug and theft crimes, has a more convincing lead of 599 votes. Both initiatives are projected to pass statewide.
Plumas County voted similarly to Sierra County, with 57% of the current vote going to Trump. Turnout is 61.69%, having in 2020 been 83.35%. The county prefers Steve Garvey for Senator and Kevin Kiley for Representative. Meghan Dahle also leads the county’s race for District 1 State Senator with 80% of the vote over David Fennell. Dahle has 75.1% of the district-wide vote. Plumas voted with Sierra County on all ballot measures.
Trump also carries 51% of the vote in Nevada County, which would be a significant shift to the left from 2020 if that margin holds. However, the county reports only 20% turnout in its most recent update, so most ballots are yet to be counted.
Trump has 53.66% of the vote with 56.75% turnout in Placer County. The county voted 52.1% for Trump in 2020. Placer voted with Plumas and Sierra Counties on ballot measures but added Proposition 3, which amends the California Constitution to remove references to marriage as between a man and a woman.
Overall, elections in the region confirmed a national trend of Donald Trump and Republicans shoring up support among rural voters. Regional counties also strongly opposed most state ballot propositions except props 3, 35, and 36. Totals are expected to continue being updated over the coming weeks as mailed ballots are counted, particularly in Nevada County, which has made little progress.