Elections Update: Diana Becton Hits 50.1% in District Attorney Race

An update by Contra Costa County Elections showed that Diana Becton has hit the 50% threshold in the District Attorney Race.

If results hold, Becton would win outright and there would be no run-off election in November as she only needs 50%+1 to win the race.

According to County Elections, there are still 50,000 vote-by-mail ballots to count along with 10,000 Provisional Ballots. The next update will come on Wednesday, June 13, 2018.

Results as of Friday:

• 50.01% (73,842) – Diana Becton
• 42.29% (62,444) – Paul Graves
• 7.60% (11,218) – Lawrence Steven Strauss

On Election Day, it was reported that 20.74% of voters cast votes. As of Friday, that number jumped to 29% with 178,288 ballots counted.

Becton issued the following  minutes after the results were released.

“Today, we are even closer to an outright win in the District Attorney’s race. But 50,000 votes remain to be counted. My campaign team and I are confident that, whether next week or next November, we will prevail in this race. The voters of Contra Costa county have spoken out to support my efforts to bring integrity, leadership, and change to our District Attorney’s office. I am honored and humbled by the overwhelming support I have received, and I look forward to continuing this work in the months and years to come.” — said Becton.

Becton issued the following statement on June 6:

On Election Day, voters made it clear that they support me as Contra Costa County District Attorney over both other candidates for the job. We are celebrating our victory today — but we know that this race is not over until every single ballot has been counted. My team will be closely watching the final count because there are over 50,000 votes that have not yet been counted — so it is still possible that our final vote tally will put us over the 50% mark. We simply won’t know for certain until every vote is counted.

I know we ran the best campaign we possibly could — and that is because we had the committed and passionate support of community members across the county. I am so grateful for our volunteers, our donors, and our supporters — I have learned so much from all of you and I could not have come this far without all of your efforts. Together, we are making history in Contra Costa county. That work will continue.

Whether or not this race continues through November, I pledge to continue my efforts to bring integrity and fairness and a new approach to criminal justice to our District Attorney’s office. I will also continue my efforts to work directly in our communities to bring justice to all of our residents.

Finally, I would like to remind everyone in our county that Your Vote Matters. This was a very tight race and just a few hundred votes will decide whether or not the result is final – and whether or not we will have to keep running to win in November.

Thank you, again, to all of my supporters! As soon as every vote is counted, I will be in touch to let you know what is next. In the meantime, I am lifted up by your overwhelming support, and I will be celebrating our win!