Quiet primaries, generals in Alabama, California, and South Dakota

April 12, 2016

Elections were held across the country on April 12, 2016, with local court, municipal council, and school board seats up for grabs. The races proved to be relatively quiet, with uncontested judicial and school board runoffs in Alabama and incumbents winning their California and South Dakota school board bids. Two of the four municipal primaries in Long Beach, California, were the only contested races with candidates failing to win enough votes to avoid running in a general election in June.

Primary elections for local judicial seats were held in Alabama on March 1, 2016. In five out of the 35 total races, no single candidate received a majority of the vote, advancing those five elections to primary runoffs on April 12. Ultimately, candidates Brendette Brown Green, Reginald Jeter, Michael Streety, Laura McCauley Alvis, and Chad Wise won their runoff elections, defeating candidates Linda Hall, Roderick Evans, Everett W. Wess, Patrick Kennedy, and James Moffatt.

Long Beach, California, held a primary election for four city council seats on April 12. Districts 2, 4, 6, and 8 are up for election this year; incumbents ran for re-election in three of these races, and incumbent Daryl Supernaw ran unopposed for re-election in District 4.^[1]

District 2 proved to be the exception to the incumbent-heavy city council races, with three candidates filing for an open seat. Jeannine Pearce, whom outgoing incumbent Suja Lowenthal endorsed in the race, led the primary with 43 percent of the vote. Eric Gray will join her in the general election on June 7 after receiving almost 37 percent of the vote. The third candidate, Joen Garnica, was eliminated from the race.

The incumbent for District 6, Dee Andrews, had to run as a write-in candidate in the primary election because he is running for his third term on the council. Facing three opponents, he was the clear front-runner in the primary. However, with roughly 48 percent of the vote, he fell short of obtaining enough votes to avoid running in the general election. In a primary, if one candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote, he or she automatically wins the election and that race does not go on to the general. Andrews, therefore, will face Erik Miller, who came in second place with 27 percent of votes, in the general election in June.

A similar scenario played out in the Long Beach District 8 race. Incumbent Al Austin, facing two challengers, won 50.1 percent of the vote. With such a slim cushion above the 50 percent mark, it is possible a recount will be conducted. If these results stand, however, Austin will have been successfully re-elected and District 8 will not appear on the general election ballot.^[2]

School board general elections were held in both the Long Beach Unified School District and the Sioux Falls School District on April 12, 2016. Runoff elections were also held in two Alabama school districts: Montgomery Public Schools and Jefferson County Public Schools. Two challengers won the Alabama races, unseating an incumbent in Montgomery Public Schools.

Five candidates, including two incumbents, filed in the Sioux Falls race. Ultimately, the incumbents retained their seats, defeating the challengers in a generally unremarkable election. Both incumbents also won re-election in the Long Beach Unified race. District 2 incumbent Felton Williams and District 4 incumbent Jon Meyer have each served on the board for more than a decade, and they received a number of endorsements from local media and community organizations, including the Teachers Association of Long Beach, the Press-Telegram, and the Long Beach Business Journal.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Local judicial elections

Alabama primary runoff

See also: Alabama local trial court judicial elections, 2016

10th Circuit, Place 11
Brendette Brown Green
Linda Hall

10th Circuit, Place 25
Roderick Evans
Reginald Jeter

10th Circuit, Place 26
Michael Streety
Everett W. Wess

18th Circuit, Place 4
Laura McCauley Alvis
Patrick Kennedy

39th Circuit, Place 1
Chad Wise
James Moffatt

Municipal elections

Long Beach municipal primary elections

See also: Municipal elections in Long Beach, California (2016)

Long Beach City Council District 2, Primary Election, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Jeannine Pearce	44.72%	2,045
Eric Gray	36.13%	1,652
Joen Garnica	19.16%	876
Total Votes		4,573
Source: City of Long Beach, "Primary Election Official Results," April 20, 2016

Long Beach City Council District 6, Primary Election, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Dee Andrews (Write-in) Incumbent	51.03%	1,089
Erik Miller	26.05%	556
Robert Harmon	13.36%	285
Josephine Villasenor	9.56%	204
Total Votes		2,134
Source: City of Long Beach, "Primary Election Official Results," April 20, 2016

Long Beach City Council District 8, Primary Election, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Al Austin Incumbent	50.98%	2,060
Wesley Turnbow	32.52%	1,314
Laurie Angel	16.51%	667
Total Votes		4,041
Source: City of Long Beach, "Primary Election Official Results," April 20, 2016