TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

This round went to the Florezes.

With all precincts reporting Wednesday morning, Fran Florez handily beat Pete Parra in the 30th Assembly District Democratic primary with 56.6 percent of the vote.

Parra wasn't taking any phone calls Wednesday and probably won't on Thursday, either, said his daughter, former Assemblywoman Nicole Parra.

“He worked so hard and just needed some time off,” she said.

“He has no regrets," Nicole added. “He worked hard, walked every day. It wasn’t like the (2004) supervisor’s race where he wasn’t into it.”

On the Republican ticket, David Valadao held a huge lead over Stephanie Campbell — 78 percent to 22 percent.

Florez and Valadao will face off in November. The 30th seat is a rarity in the state Legislature because either party could win. A costly battle is expected.

The rival Democrats, whose children have both been elected to the office, held election night parties in Bakersfield, though even hours after polls closed the final outcome still wasn’t certain.

“Right now, we’re very, very happy with what we see,” said Florez shortly after 10 p.m., as a computer screen on a table at Ruben’s Mexican Food on Chester Avenue showed her with the overall lead.

Parra and his supporters enjoyed catered food in a warehouse behind his Bakersfield campaign office on Golden State Avenue.

“Let’s see what’s going to happen,” Parra said before 10 p.m. “It’s going to be a long night.”

Valadao, a Hanford dairy farmer from the heart of the district, had a large fundraising advantage that made him the favorite in the primary. He ended the most recent filing period with more than $59,000 in cash and reported spending more than $106,000 on the race as of May 22. Campbell, a Bakersfield consultant, raised less than $50,000 in all so never filed electronic reports disclosing campaign contributions and spending.

Campbell said she had met wonderful people throughout the district while campaigning.

“I think David is a good man for the seat if I’m the loser,” she said.

Whether Florez or Parra prevails, the race is shaping up to be another classic 30th contest: a heavyweight Democratic name versus an unknown Republican, with anybody’s guess as to who will win.

FEUD INTERRUPTED

Tuesday’s outcome end the latest chapter in an odd, years-long family drama fueling the Democratic contest.

Children of each candidate have previously held the seat: Dean Florez and Nicole Parra.

Nicole Parra termed out of the Assembly in 2008 after spending six years representing the 30th. Dean Florez preceded her, serving two terms before winning a state Senate seat.

When Fran Florez ran to replace Nicole Parra in 2008, she lost by a margin of less than 2 percent to Danny Gilmore after Nicole and Pete Parra crossed party lines to endorse the Republican. (Gilmore decided after one term not to run again.)

Pete Parra had lost his county supervisor post in 2004 to Michael Rubio, then a 26-year-old aide to state Sen. Dean Florez.

Despite the stormy history, this season’s  Parra-Florez direct match yielded a mostly quiet race, with negative ads appearing only in the final week or so.

CLOSE CALLS

In past years, the race has been a nail-biter.

Nicole Parra’s first bid in 2002 against Republican Dean Gardner landed in federal court. Gardner conceded more than three weeks after the election with just 266 votes separating the candidates out of nearly 53,000 cast.

In 2008, Fran Florez waited almost three weeks after polls closed to concede because of the close count. Gilmore won by 1,310 votes out of 86,540 cast.

Florez held a strong financial advantage going into Tuesday’s primary. At the end of the most recent reporting period, she had more than $250,000 in cash and no debt. Parra had less than $26,000 cash and more than $58,000 in debts. She also had the support of the state Democratic Party, and the state central committee donated $50,000 to her campaign.

The Democratic candidates expected to spend up to $350,000 on the primary battle alone.

Both Parra and Florez had been on the road all day Tuesday urging people to vote. Parra stopped in Avenal, Hanford, Corcoran, Alpaugh, Pixley, Earlimart, Lamont and Arvin before ending the day in Bakersfield.

Florez started in McFarland and spent the rest of the day in Delano. Both campaigns considered Delano a major battleground.