ROBERTS, WHITBURN APPEAR HEADED FOR RUN-OFF ELECTION

Update June 9, 2010 10 a.m. - With 100% of precincts counted, but absentee and provisional ballots remaining to be counted, Roberts has 48.02%, below the 50% threshhold he needed to prevent a fall run-off.  Whitman has 21.64%, followed by Jackson with 18.17%. For full returns in this and other local races,  click here.
June 8, 2010 (San Diego) – In the hotly contested 4th Supervisorial District, Democrats appear to have succeeded in preventing incumbent Ron Roberts from securing the necessary 50% margin to prevent a run-off election in November.

Although early returns showed Roberts slightly above 50%, by midnight, with over 57% of precincts counted, Roberts had slipped to 48.97%. If there is a run-off, Roberts’ likely opponent will be journalist Steve Whitburn, who currently has 20.66% of the vote. However San DiegoUnited School District president Shelia Jackson, also a Democrat, stands at 17.92% and could surpass Whitburn when the remaining votes are counted.
 

Roberts, a Republican, could face his toughest challenge in years against either Jackson or Whitburn, who previously ran for City Council and lost by only a few percentage points.  The 4th Supervisorial District is now a majority Democratic registration.