California’s Calaveras County has produced an election result so unusual that even the most imaginative political scriptwriter might have rejected it. Bruce Giudici is currently leading the race for Board of Supervisors more than two months after he died, and his campaign is still urging voters to support him.
According to the Daily Caller, Giudici holds 56.99 percent of the vote. He died on Aug. 31 after falling while door-knocking in the area, just two weeks before his 69th birthday. Despite that, his name remains in front of his opponent, Clyde Clapp, who has received 43.01 percent of the vote.
Hundreds of ballots remain unprocessed, meaning the current 486-vote gap could still close. So this strange local race is not quite ready for its final curtain call. California elections already come with enough paperwork, suspense and procedural twists, but this contest has added a particularly grim plot development.
Giudici’s campaign made the unusual decision to continue pursuing the seat after his death. Campaign volunteer Carrie Biggs-Adams told KRCA, “It was a very complicated decision to decide to keep going and an emotional one, and we felt very strongly that Bruce had wanted to do this, and that was his mission and our goal was to finish his mission,”
The campaign also described Giudici as deeply committed to the county and said he wanted to keep Clapp from returning to the Board of Supervisors. “Bruce was a man who cared deeply about Calaveras County and believed District 5 deserved honest, ethical, accountable leadership,” Giudici’s campaign said following his death. “Bruce was passionate about preventing Clyde Clapp from returning to the Board of Supervisors.”
The result could now create an unusual responsibility for Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. If Giudici wins as expected, Newsom would appoint someone to fill the vacancy. That appointee would serve until a successor is formally elected.
That means the candidate currently ahead could win the election, yet another person chosen by the governor could temporarily occupy the seat. Political procedure is often presented as a neat system of rules, but every so often it produces a situation that sounds like satire before the details are even finished.
Clapp does not have an automatic right to take the seat simply because Giudici has died. The remaining ballots will determine whether Giudici’s lead holds, while Newsom’s potential appointment adds another layer to an already extraordinary contest.
Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller.
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