Overview:
Joe Salas led early in San Bernardino’s Ward 4 council race as Mayor Helen Tran hosted supporters of three endorsed candidates. Results remain unofficial.
Aryana Noroozi
As polling places closed across the state on Tuesday night, supporters, families and local leaders gathered at the Enterprise Building in downtown San Bernardino to watch early returns come in. Mayor Helen Tran hosted the election night watch party for the three City Council candidates she backed this cycle: Joe Salas in Ward 4, Virginia Marquez in Ward 1 and Benito J. Barrios in Ward 2.
From 7:30 to 10:30 pm, guests made conversation as they filled plates from the buffet and ladled agua fresca while a mariachi band performed as vote tallies refreshed on a projector screen. Near 10 p.m., Tran called the candidates to the front. Salas, who led in early returns, thanked volunteers who had knocked on doors with him every weekend. “I’ve only lived in the city for five years, so thank you for adopting me as one of your own,” he said.
Barrios, a former Ward 2 council member seeking to return to the seat, told supporters the count could still change, but that his work in the community would continue either way. Tran closed the night with a charge to the room: “Hold us accountable. If you see something, say something, and call us out because we serve you all.”
Vote totals in this story come from the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters’ Election Summary Report, posted at 2:28 a.m. Wednesday. They are unofficial and could change as remaining mail and provisional ballots are counted. Results are not final until the county certifies them.
