Democrat Ted Lieu, Republican Sharon Runner win Southern California special elections

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Jerry Brown will soon have another ally in the state Senate, thanks to former Assemblyman Ted Lieu's victory in the special election in the 28th District.

Lieu topped an eight-candidate field with 57.1 percent of the vote with all 308 precincts counted, according to figures released today by the Secretary of State's Office.

Republican Bob Valentine was second with 24.8 percent in the predominately Democratic district which stretches from Long Beach to Mar Vista.

Lieu will be the 25th Democrat in the state Senate, meaning Brown will need to win the votes of two of the 15 Republicans in the body to get the two-thirds majority needed to place a five-year extension of tax increases on a June special election ballot.

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No Republican legislator has publicly supported putting the tax increase extension on a special election ballot. All but three of the 41 Republican legislators have signed a pledge from Americans for Tax Reform to oppose all efforts to increase taxes.

If Lieu had failed to win a majority of votes in Tuesday's election, he would have been forced to an April 19 runoff election, too late for him to help put Brown's tax package on the ballot.

Lieu will complete the term of Jenny Oropeza, D-Redondo Beach, who died Oct. 20, but whose name remained on the Nov. 2 ballot, and was re-elected to hold the seat until December 2014.

Republican Assemblywoman Sharon Runner was the winner of Tuesday's special election in the 17th District, receiving 65.6 percent of the vote to 34.4 percent for Democrat Darren W. Parker, a small-business owner from Lancaster, with all 572 precincts reporting.

The seat became vacant by the election of Sharon Runner's husband George Runner to the state Board of Equalization.

Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, will serve out her husband's term, which expires Dec. 2, 2012.

The heavily Republican 17th District covers parts of Kern, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring called Sharon Runner's victory, "an affirmation of the common sense and practicality that Californians want from their leadership."

"Sharon's past experience as an assemblywoman and business leader will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the California Legislature," Nehring said.

The elections were the first conducted under California's new "top two" primary system.

Voters chose from among all candidates in the race, regardless of political party affiliation. If no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two finishers in the primary election will advance to the April 19 runoff, even if they were from the same political party.

The system was approved by voters last June, and took effect Jan. 1.

Under previous California law, if no candidate received 50 percent in a special election primary election, the top finisher from each party would advance to the runoff.