Election Day is Nov. 3.

4/11/18 01:00 AM | With all 222 precincts reporting, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia has clinched another 4 years, beating challenger James Henry “Henk” Conn 26,510 votes (79.0%) to 7,053 (21.0%).

Suzie Price will keep her Third District city council seat, winning in a landslide with 6,229 votes (78.6%). Likewise, Vice Mayor Rex Richardson held on to his Ninth District seat with 1,600 votes (80.0%).

Pending the results of any outstanding provisional or vote-by-mail ballots left to be counted over the next several days, the top two vote getters in both Districts 5 and 7 will go to a runoff in June. In the Fifth District, Stacy Mungo, who got 3,840 votes, will face off against Rich Dines, who ended the night with 2,354 (29.8%). In the Seventh District, Roberto Uranga, who received 2,318 votes (47.9%) will face Jared Milrad, who got 1,544 (31.9%).

In the race for Long Beach Community College District Member, Board of Trustees, Area 1, Uduak-Joe Ntuk won handily with 3,386 votes (56.3%) defeating long-time incumbent Jeff Kellogg, making Ntuk the only non-incumbent to win tonight.

In the Long Beach Unified School District Governing Board Member, District 3 race, Juan M. Benitez, who got 1,797 votes (46.7%), and Cesar A. Armendariz, who got 1,278 (33.2%), will face each other in the run-off.

Of the 261,577 registered voters in Long Beach, 35,182—or 13.4%—cast ballots.

4/10/18 11:32 PM | Garcia’s lead over Conn for the mayor’s seat still holds strong at 22,855 (79.2%) to 6,008 (20.8%) with 137 of 222 precincts reporting.

Maintaining an impressive lead in District 3, Price has 5,193 votes (78.7%).

In District 5, Mungo has slipped below the 50% threshold at 3,056 votes (49.0%). If she does not get over 50% of the vote, she’ll face the next-highest vote getter in June. Currently, Dines is trailing Mungo at 1,879 (30.1%).

Uranga is still below the threshold to win tonight in District 7, with 2,012 votes (48.7%). It’s still looking likely he’ll face Milrad, who has 1,278 votes (30.9%), in the June run-off.

In the Ninth District, Richardson maintains a comfortable lead at 1,322 votes (79.3%).

For LBCCD Board of Trustees, Area 1, Ntuk continues to put distance between him and his opponent, with 2,858 votes (54.6%), while in the race for LBUSD Governing Board Member, District 3, Benitez has 1,608 votes (47.1%) and the next highest is Armendariz with 1,133 (33.2%).

4/10/18 10:37 PM | With 70 out of 222 precincts reporting, Garcia’s lead has slid only a fraction, now at 79.4% (20,234 votes) to Conn’s 20.6% (5,248 votes).

In the Third and Ninth Districts, Price maintains her landslide lead with 4,729 votes (79.2%) and Richardson his with 1,060 (79.2%). Mungo in the Fifth District maintains her lead at 2,677 votes (51.5%).

The only incumbent now looking like they’ll face a run-off in June is Uranga in District 7, leading the field with 1,719 votes (49.9%). If he does not pull past the 50% mark, he’ll go head-to-head with the next-highest vote getter, which is currently looking like it will bee Milrad, with 1,033 votes (30.0%).

Ntuk has pulled ahead slightly in the race for LBCCD Board of Trustees Area 1, with 2,300 votes (52.8%) to Kellogg’s 2,058 (47.2%).

For LBUSD Governing Board Member, District 3, Benitez is shy of the over 50% needed to win tonight, with 1,391 votes (47.0%), to Armendariz’ 995 votes (33.6%).

4/10/18 9:30 PM | “You never know, obviously, until you know,” Robert Garcia told the Post, in response to his early lead in the race to keep his seat as Long Beach mayor, where he’s captured nearly 80% of the mail-in vote.

“I’m just very grateful to the voters for giving us an opportunity to continue leading,” he continued. “I love Long Beach, I think it’s been a great few years; unemployment is at historic lows, our homicide rate is at a historic low, investment is up, we have a great streets and sidewalk program. We’re looking forward to another term, but the work starts again tomorrow.

“We weren’t expecting 80% [of the vote],” Garcia added. “That’s a much stronger number than we thought, but we’re very happy.”

When asked about his position on rent control, which he’s previously come out against, Garcia said it was time to “get back to basics and focus on the things that really matter to Long Beach.”

“Are our neighborhoods safe? Are they clean and well taken care of? Are the streets fixed? When they call the city, are we taking care of them?” Garcia listed off. “Those are the most important things we’re going to focus on next. Beyond that, we have an initiative on homelessness we’re going to announce next week, which is huge, and then an issue around housing.”

“I totally get— it breaks my heart when someone can’t afford a rent that might be increasing, or a student who can’t afford a place to live,” he added. “We’ve got an initiative working on that very issue; the council’s going to address it, and it’s a big issue for us over the next few months.”

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4/10/18 8:19 PM | Early results from vote-by-mail are in.

Robert Garcia leads Henk Conn in the race for mayor 16,938 votes (79.7%) to 4,309 (20.3%).
Suzie Price is in the lead in District 3, with 4,471 votes (79.3%). Trailing her are Gordon Kajer with 648 votes (11.5%) and Rob Savin with 517 votes (9.2%).

Stacy Mungo leads in the Fifth District with 2,121 votes (52.3%), with the next-highest vote-getter, Rich Dines, at 1,126 votes (27.7%).

In District 7, Roberto Uranga has 1,322 votes (50.5%), with Jared Milrad in second place at 754 (28.8%).

In District 9, Rex Richardson has 966 votes (78.5%), with Mineo Gonzalez trailing at 265 (21.5%).

For Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustees, Area 1, Uduak-Joe Ntuk has a narrow lead with 1,818 votes (51.5%) to Jeffrey Kellogg’s 1,715 (48.5%).

Long Beach Unified School District Governing Board Member, District 3, Juan Benitez leads with 1,199 votes (47.2%), with Cesar Armendariz behind at 872 (34.4%) and Eduardo Lara at 467 (18.4%).

4/10/18 8:48 PM | “I’m very impressed with the high percentage [of mail-in votes] we’ve gotten,” District 3 incumbent Suzie Price told the Post. “I think it speaks volumes about what the people who are voting think about the progress we’ve made. Elections are really like a report card, and I feel really proud tonight, because I think people are recognizing how hard I work, and that I’m not afraid to disagree with people.”

“I just don’t believe it is a good model for the city of Long Beach,” Price said when asked about her position on rent control. “I don’t think it encourages investment in our city and I don’t think it would be a positive outcome moving forward.”

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4/10/18 7:56 PM  |  Today Long Beach voters headed to the polls to decide who will lead the city for the next four years in four council districts, two education board positions and the mayor’s seat.

In a primary format, for those races with more than two candidates, if one candidate does not receive over 50 percent of the vote the top two vote getters will go to a runoff election that will coincide with the California statewide primary in June.

However, because there are only two candidates vying for the mayor’s seat, that race will likely be decided tonight.

Two of the city’s easternmost districts are up for grabs with incumbents Suzie Price (Third District) and Stacy Mungo (Fifth District) taking on multiple challengers in their reelection bids. West Long Beach’s Seventh District (Roberto Uranga) and the Ninth District (Vice Mayor Rex Richardson) are also up for votes with a crowded field in the Seventh District possibly resulting in a runoff in June.

Mayor Robert Garcia is seeking a second term in office and is facing off against a grassroots challenger in James “Henk” Conn who primarily focused on rent control as his platform during his campaign.

One seat each on the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education and the Long Beach Community College District Board (LBCCD) of Trustees will also be decided with three Latino candidates running for the vacant District 3 seat and incumbent Jeff Kellogg hopes to fend off challenger Uduak-Joe Ntuk and retain his position as the Area 1 representative for the LBCCD board.

Check back here for live results and dispatches from campaign headquarters throughout the city, or follow us on Twitter.

Jason Ruiz covers City Hall and politics for the Long Beach Post. Reach him at [email protected] or @JasonRuiz_LB on Twitter.