Roberts wins in primary election; Gonzales breezes to second term

By FONTANA HERALD NEWS

Fontana City Councilmember John Roberts was the winner of the Republican Party primary election in the 43rd Congressional District and will be seeking to unseat incumbent Joe Baca in the general election in November.

Roberts triumphed in the primary with 4,378 votes (59.96 percent), while Scott Folkens had 2,923 votes (40.04 percent), according to preliminary results provided by the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters.

Roberts, who was re-elected to the City Council in 2006, is running for Congress for the first time.

Baca won the Democratic primary with 10,671 votes (65.82 percent), far surpassing challenger Joanne T. Gilbert, who had 5,541 votes (34.18 percent).

ALSO in Tuesday's election, San Bernardino County 5th District Supervisor Josie Gonzales easily retained her seat and will be embarking on a second four-year term.

With all 171 precincts reporting, Gonzales had 11,987 votes (100 percent of the total). According to the Registrar of Voters, write-in candidate Vincent Laster did not receive any votes in his attempt to oust Gonzales.

Gonzales, a Fontana resident and former member of the City Council, represents a district which includes the eastern part of Fontana.

IN THE 62nd State Assembly District (which includes much of Fontana), incumbent Wilmer Amina Carter won the Democratic primary by garnering 6,761 votes (60.5 percent of the total). Her opponent, Gil Navarro, had 4,414 votes (39.5 percent).

In the 63rd State Assembly District (which includes a portion of Fontana), the incumbent, Bill Emmerson, was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Emmerson's Democratic opponent in the general election will be Mark David Westwood, who won the primary with 6,009 votes (54.57 percent) to Jonathan Abraham's 5,003 votes (45.43 percent).