FOLSOM, Calif. — Early returns reveal close races for both Folsom City Council seats up for grabs in 2024, while more ballot counts will publish later this week.
The latest results show Justin Raithel, a businessman, leads his two opponents Dustin Silva, a sheriff’s captain, and Hla Elkhatib, a small business owner and law student, by hundreds of votes for the District 2 seat.
In the District 4 race, Barbara Leary, a retired nurse practitioner, leads her opponent Jim Ortega, a retired police chief, by hundreds of votes and her other opponent Gul Khan, an entrepreneur, by over 1,000 votes.
District 2
Raithel secured 1,701 votes so far in the council race.
Sacramento County will offer more in its first interim report set to publish Friday afternoon.
“I’m feeling good,” Raithel told ABC10. “If the results come in the same way, then I look forward to serving the city. I thank all the residents for taking the time to talk to me to share their hopes and dreams for Folsom and also their concerns.”
Silva received 1,344 votes as of Wednesday morning.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “The initial result was not what I wanted to see…I’m hopeful for Friday. I’m super thankful for all the help and support I got through the whole process and hopefully (will) pull out Friday or in the coming weeks.”
Elkhatib maintains a respectable 1,176 votes after Election Day.
“I’m so proud of the race that we ran,” she said. “I’m so, so grateful for the support we've received. It’s a close race, the support is overwhelming. Votes are still being counted, but regardless of the final result I’m committed to continue serving my hometown and excited to do so.”
District 4
Leary currently has 1,656 votes for the District 4 seat.
She feels in a good position to assume the seat, she told ABC10.
“I’m 7% ahead of my closest opponent. It seems likely that I’ll prevail,” Leary said. “I'm cautiously optimistic that I’ll remain in the lead. I’d like to thank all the residents who opened their doors to me in the last five months.”
Ortega earned 1,344 votes so far — trailing Leary by a mere 219 votes
“I’m still very optimistic,” he said. “I’m told about 50% of the ballots still need to be counted…(former Sacramento County Sheriff) Scott Jones told me it may be a good two or three weeks before this is all figured out. I’m remaining very positive.”
Gul Khan received the lowest number of votes so far with 355.
“I have full trust of the electoral system right now,” Khan said. “I’m happy we were able to run a very successful campaign and give people the opportunity to choose the best candidate. I’m not really losing hope until the last vote is counted. I will wait until the end. No matter what happens, I will continue to serve the community, as I have for the last 10 years, in whatever capacity I can.”
What happens next?
Sacramento County released early results on Election Day around 8:15 p.m. and 10 p.m., then early Wednesday morning. The next update will release by 4 p.m. Friday, the county said.
