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Secretary of State Bowen Announces
Certified List of 28th Senate District Candidates

SACRAMENTO - Secretary of State Debra Bowen today announced the certified list of candidates who will appear on the Special Primary Election ballot to fill the vacancy in the 28th Senate District seat. The candidates and their official ballot designations are:

• Ted W. Lieu (My Party Preference is the Democratic Party) – Legislator
• Kevin Thomas McGurk (My Party Preference is the Democratic Party) – Public Defense Lawyer
• Jeffrey E. Fortini (My Party Preference is the Republican Party) – Retired CBP Officer
• Martha Flores Gibson (My Party Preference is the Republican Party) – Educator/Business Owne
• James P. Thompson (My Party Preference is the Republican Party) – Attorney/Housing Provider
• Bob Valentine (My Party Preference is the Republican Party) – Independent Businessman/Attorney
• Michael Chamness (No Party Preference) – Non-Profit Organization Consultant
• Mark Lipman (No Party Preference) – Publisher/Community Organizer

The Special Primary Election will be held on February 15 to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Jenny Oropeza.

In a special primary, all qualified candidates appear on one ballot. If one candidate receives a majority of the votes cast (50 percent plus one), no further election will be necessary. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a Special General Election will be held on April 19, with a ballot featuring the two candidates, regardless of party preference, who received the most votes in the primary.

This election and the Senate District 17 Special Election are the first to be conducted since Proposition 14 of 2010 took effect. Prior to the new law, known as the Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act, if no candidate received a majority of the votes in a special primary election, the candidate from each qualified political party who received the most votes would move on to a special general election. Also before Proposition 14, every candidate’s party registration was listed on ballots; now voters and candidates only indicate a preferred party or "no party preference."

The official certified list of candidates, with contact information for each of them, is available at www.sos.ca.gov/elections/Special/sd28/certified-list.pdf.

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