By Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee

Beth Gaines and Ken Cooley knew Wednesday that they’d won a spot on the November ballot for a Sacramento-area Assembly seat – but they couldn’t be sure who they’ll run against.

The 6th and 8th Assembly districts were left hanging, with second-place finishers to be decided by the counting of an undetermined number of dropped-off, mailed-in or provisional ballots received on election day.

Under California’s new top-two primary system, the two highest vote-getters in legislative and congressional primary elections will square off in November, even if they’re from the same party.

Gaines, an incumbent Republican assemblywoman from Rocklin, doesn’t yet know whether she’ll be challenged by a Democrat or a Republican in the 6th District.

Democrat Regy Bronner, a retired business executive, has no hope of overcoming Gaines for first, but he held a lead of less than one percentage point Wednesday over Republican Andy Pugno for the second spot.

The three candidates seek the seat of a newly drawn Assembly district based in Placer County but extending into Folsom, Fair Oaks, Orangevale and El Dorado Hills.

Placer County had an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 ballots left uncounted Wednesday, but the number affecting the 6th Assembly District was not known.

Read the whole story