Election 2012: Valle Leads District 2 Supervisor Race

Updated 1:02 a.m.

It started off as a tight race, but with all precincts now reporting, Richard Valle just might have the Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 2 seat in his pocket.

Valle, who was appointed to the position in April after former county supervisor Nadya Locker resigned in a messy scandal, leads with 20,014 votes (36 percent) as of 12:47 a.m. Wednesday — a more than 3,000 vote gap over the candidate with the second most votes.

Trailing behind Valle is Mark Green with 16,803 votes (30 percent). Green’s tenure as Union City’s mayor expires this year. Earlier this year, Green was bumped off in the June primary for State Assembly and put his name in the hat for the county supervisor appointment, but also lost that bid.

Behind Green is Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi. Despite a publicized shoplifting fiasco, she managed to garner 13,165 votes (24 percent).

In last place is retired deputy sheriff Mark Turnquist with 4,933 votes (9 percent).

"It feels really good," Valle said of his likely win late Tuesday night. "We had help from a lot of people; a real great cross section of District 2. The young people made a big difference."

If he wins, Valle said that going into 2013, he'll continue to work on the initiatives he's set in motion during his temporary appointment to the Board of Supervisors.

Among those initiatives are the Tennyson Corridor Improvement project in south Hayward, an effort to help save the struggling St. Rose Hospital, the reforestation of the Union City hills and continuing to advocate for youth employment programs.

While Valle remained confident throughout the supervisors race, he said "it's never over until it's over."

"The key is running an honest campaign and being true to yourself," Valle said.

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