2 Republicans on November ballot for area Assembly seat
By Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee
Andy Pugno came from behind Friday to win a spot on the November ballot, but he must decide whether to keep a promise to support his Assembly opponent, fellow Republican Beth Gaines.
Pugno overtook Democrat Regy Bronner by about 800 votes, largely on the strength of Placer County provisional, write-in and other ballots received on Election Day and counted the past two weeks, ending with a final tally Friday.
The 6th Assembly District extends into Sacramento and El Dorado counties, which finished their vote count days ago.
Pugno, a Folsom attorney, won the right to fight Assemblywoman Gaines, of Rocklin, in what could be a rerun of the costly, fiery, no-holds-barred race that rocked the newly drawn Assembly district in recent months.
Gaines, a Rocklin resident, easily finished first in the primary for a seat to represent the largely Republican district, based in Placer County but stretching into Folsom, Fair Oaks, Orangevale and El Dorado Hills. However, this seat will no longer stretch into South Lake Tahoe.
