November 19, 2020 at 8:11 am

Carlos Villapudua has won the race for state assembly in District 13, beating out Kathy Miller in a close race. As of Wednesday night, Villapudua had 77,922 votes (51.23%) to Miller’s 74,190 votes (48.77%), a margin of almost 2.5 percentage points.

Miller conceded Wednesday night in a Facebook post, writing, “While this isn’t the outcome we wanted, I am incredibly proud of the campaign we ran… I will do everything I can to ensure Assemblymember-elect Villapudua has the support and partnership he needs as we work together.”

Assembly District 13 covers Stockton, French Camp, and Tracy. It is currently represented by Susan Talamantes Eggman, who is termed out. Eggman ran for state senate this year, and is projected to win her race against former Modesto Mayor Jim Ridenour.

The March primary demonstrated early on that the race was going to be tight. Villapudua won with 27,068 votes. Miller beat out Christina Fugazi for second place by 30 votes, 24,091 to 24,061. All three candidates in the primary are Democrats.

The other state assembly races in San Joaquin have been decided by much wider margins, with both incumbents reelected. Jim Cooper (D) beat challenger Eric Rigard (R) by roughly 32 percentage points in District 9. The district is largely within Sacramento County, encompassing Lodi, Elk Grove, and parts of south Sacramento.

In District 12, Heath Flora (R) defeated Paul Akinjo (D) by roughly 21.8 points. The district covers Manteca, Ripon, Oakdale, and Turlock.