Garamendi holding lead over Colusa's Vann

US Rep. John Garamendi was leading in a bid to win re-election in the 3rd Congressional District on Tuesday, but the campaign for opponent Kim Vann still hoped for the final result to shift.

Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, said the numbers were going about the way he expected on election night, though he also knew plenty of ballots have yet to be counted.

"We're feeling very positive, we ran a positive campaign and we feel voters reacted positively," said Garamendi, who some observers believed could be vulnerable in a redrawn district, including more conservative areas such as Yuba-Sutter.

Because many of the uncounted votes were from Garamendi's base in Yolo and Sutter counties, he said, he believed he would ultimately win.

But Alee Lockman, campaign manager for Colusa County Supervisor and Republican candidate Vann, said she wouldn't count all Yolo and Solano votes as ones for the incumbent.

"We have received great support in Yolo and Solano counties," she said, adding she also expected Vann to add to her totals in other counties such as Yuba and in provisional and vote-by-mail ballots. "We're confident and optimistic."

Both campaigns said they expected the campaign to be close and felt good about where their respective candidates were at. Registration in the district favors Democrats, and Garamendi received more votes in the June primary than all the Republican challengers combined.

Though Vann attracted some early endorsements and interest from GOP leaders nationally, including US House Speaker John Boehner and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, outside expenditures from GOP-aligned groups faded in the final weeks of the campaign.

If he is re-elected, Garamendi said, his record on issues such as jobs, water and supporting the district's two military bases will reflect the result.

"I'm going to spend a lot of time working with elected leaders and locals in Yuba and Sutter counties on those thing: jobs, flood control, water," he said.

The district extends from Yuba and Sutter counties through areas west of Sacramento and into eastern Solano County. Garamendi first won election to a more Bay Area-centered district in 2009.

CONTACT Ben van der Meer at bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4786. Find him on Facebook at /ADbvandermeer or on Twitter at @ADbvandermeer.