Early election results Tuesday indicate state Assemblyman Ben Hueso secured enough votes to avoid a May 14 run-off for a South County Senate seat.
Results from Riverside, Imperial County and San Diego County indicate Hueso, a Democrat from San Diego, will ease into former Sen. Juan Vargas's 40th Senate District seat without further ado. Vargas left the seat after being elected to Congress.
Hueso has 50.9 percent vote, and his three challengers all fall below 20 percent of the vote, according to early results posted on the Secretary of State's website.
Running against him are Hector Gastelum, a conservative Republican businessman from Chula Vista; Democrat Anna Nevenic, a nurse and author; and Dr. Xanthi Gionis, a conservative professor and businesswoman.
