Joe Coto (left) and Jim Beall Jr. (right)
Jim Beall wins California District 15 with over 57% percent of the vote with 100% of precincts reporting. Joe Coto collected 42% percent of the vote.
California Senate District 15 featured James Beall Jr. (D) and Joe Coto (D). At 1:30 am Jim Beall was declared the winner. Beall who had been representing Assembly District 24 since 2006 decided to run for the newly redistricted 15th since incumbent Republican Sam Blakeslee did not seek reelection. Beall's re-election moves the Democrats one seat closer to a supermajority in the legislature.
Beall led in the primary 55% over Coto who earned 44% of the vote. Senate District 15's new boundaries includes San Jose, Los Gatos, and Campbell. The district consists of 45% Democrats, 22% Republican, and 33% either decline to state or other.
Coto was a member of Oakland's City Council and currently acts as President of the Latino Democratic Forum. A 2009 Capitol Weekly legislative scorecard ranked Coto as fairly liberal with a score of 89 out of 100 (100 being perfectly liberal and 0 being perfectly conservative).
Likewise James Beall Jr. was raked at 94 out of 100. Aside from his assembly seat, Beall sits on the Californians for Better Transportation Board and Juvenile Justice Coordinating Council among others. Beall has raised over $600,000 this election, nearly half from the labor industry. Coto, although still somewhat popular with labor interests, found most of his support with the insurance and real estate industry. The California Association of Realtors hold the single largest donation to Coto's campaign at $12,400.