Villines Declared Winner in GOP Primary for State Insurance Commissioner
On Friday, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen declared Assembly member Mike Villines (R-Clovis) the winner of the June 8 Republican primary for state insurance commissioner, defeating Department of Insurance lawyer Brian FitzGerald by 16,346 votes, the Los Angeles Times reports (Reston, Los Angeles Times, 7/17).
In the days following the primary, Villines trailed FitzGerald by about 11,000 votes and appeared ready to concede in what would have been the largest primary upset in California, the Fresno Bee reports (Schultz, Fresno Bee, 7/16).
After more votes were tallied, Villines took the lead and eventually cinched the nomination with 50.5% of the vote, according to the secretary of state's office (Young, Ventura County Star, 7/17).
While Villines spent more than $220,000 on his election bid, FitzGerald said his campaign expenditures totaled only $4,292.
General Election
In the general election this fall, Villines will face off against Democratic Assembly member Dave Jones (Sacramento), who easily defeated Assembly member Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate) in the Democratic primary (Los Angeles Times, 7/17). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.