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Levine Holds Edge on Allen in Tight State Assembly Race

San Rafael Democrat hangs on after late vote tallies from Sonoma County closed his lead.

Despite a substantial fundraising disadvantage, San Rafael City Councilman Marc Levine narrowly edged Michael Allen Tuesday night in the race to represent the 10th District in the State Assembly.

Levine garnered 68,189 votes, or 50.6 percent of the votes cast, to Allen's 66,526, or 49.4 percent.

"I'm very proud of our campaign and we're cautiously optimistic," Levine said at his election night party Tuesday night before final Sonoma County tallies came in around 1:20 a.m. and sealed his advantage.

Levine faced a powerful sitting assemblyman in Allen, who represented the 7th District that included Napa County as well as parts of Sonoma and Solano counties until it was splintered by redistricting, prompting Allen to move to downtown San Rafael to run.

Levine had built a solid lead in Marin, holding a 52-48 advantage. Although Levine's campaign contributions were a fraction of Allen's, the councilman stayed just ahead of the assemblyman by the end of the evening.

"I don't think anyone believed we'd be this competitive," Levine said. "I'm proud that we've given the voters of Marin and Sonoma a choice."

Allen received more than $1.4 million in campaign contributions, including $700,000 from independent expenditure committees. Levine only raised $253,000 in contributions and over $250,000 from independent expenditure committees.

Both candidates are Democrats and vied for endorsements. Allen focused on his experience with solving problems in the legislature during his campaign, while Levine zeroed in on the changes the he could bring to state government.

"I think it was interesting that since both candidates were Democrats, their opponents tried to make them look Republican," Lane Kasselman said at a party in support of Levine.

Kasselman was referring to the recent storm of campaign mailers that filled voters' mailboxes leading up to the election. After Allen got the California Democratic Party's endorsement, the organization portrayed Levine as a closeted Republican with backing from agri-businesses that pollute. On the cover of one mailer, the Democrat's donkey hides Levine's face with the phrase "Someone's masking who he really is."

At the Marin Democratic Party Headquarters in San Rafael, Allen and newly-elected congressman Jared Huffman celebrated the election results with more than 250 people.

"Michael Allen will be your next assemblyman," Huffman said. "Those votes will come in."

Levine celebrated the end of his campaign with a small group of friends at Aurora Art Studios on 1350 Fourth St.

"I want to thank my wife, Wendy, who's been a source of strength through this," Levine said.

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Bob Ratto November 7, 2012 at 12:03 pm
This one is really a shocker. With Allen having unlimited money courtesy of the Democrat party, this upset is actually really encouraging.
Michael November 7, 2012 at 01:35 pm
a rare event in Marin County when political sanity prevails. Allen the carpetbagger will now move on to look for a new community to call his own. Perhaps he can hold out long enough to apply for a conductor's job on the smart train he supported for his Sonoma supporters. Good luck Mark Levine
Patrick Bergin November 7, 2012 at 03:01 pm
Congratulations to Assemblyman-elect Marc Levine!
Al Dugan November 7, 2012 at 03:06 pm
Great job Marc, against all odds and with great courage. This is the carney in the mine for many entrenched and embedded politicians in the cities and counties of Marin. People are waking up and will be holding you accountable for your past record and your views of the future. Glad I could help out.
craig thomas November 7, 2012 at 03:08 pm
Congratulations California, hello to quality follow up Huffman do exercise quality outreach with your Gentlemen ship and do give helping hand to Marc Levine clue him in to all those children still in office of the Assembly today.
Abihail Baroj November 7, 2012 at 03:53 pm
Darn. I knew I should have been nicer to him on those candidates nights. Rats.
Nicole Ely (Editor) November 7, 2012 at 04:07 pm
Thanks for your comments everyone. Just so everyone knows, there still are some provisional ballots that have to be counted and Allen has not conceded yet. But Levine is in the lead with 1,663 votes. We'll keep you updated about the provisional ballots.
John Parnell November 7, 2012 at 07:45 pm
Mr. Allen may not have conceded yet, but Mr. Levine won. Speaker Perez has already called Marc to congratulate him, so I think that speaks worlds more than Mr. Allen's lack of a concession speech.
This is a huge win for the people of Marin & Sonoma. It shows that others can't buy our seat in Sacramento - we still get to choose who represents us.
john daniels November 7, 2012 at 10:10 pm
It appears to me that the vote for Levine was really a vote against the public
employee unions that dominate Sacramento and Mr Allen who only acted to delay pension reform in the interest of the union members and against the interests of the taxpayers that are being ripped off. The voters of San Jose, San Diego, and now Marin/Sonoma have spoken. We are fed up with union greed, spin,and their huge war chests. Mr Huffman should take note.
Mark Leach November 8, 2012 at 01:45 am
My guess is that Allen's attempt to paint Levine as a Republican back fired. He basically told the Republicans to vote for Levine. Since about 25% of the voters in Marin are Republicans, Levine only needed a small portion of the Democratic votes to win. This crazy system we have now will allow the Republicans in our heavily Democratic district to dictate a win for the most conservative Democrat.
Mark
marissa November 14, 2012 at 02:29 pm
Congratulations Marc, your David besting Goliath campaign gives me hope that voters can see past the shameless (and really cheesy) propoganda to the underlying people and issues at stake. Shame on Sierra Club and Huffman for cutting deals with Sacramento. Hurray for informed electorate!
Note Article
Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
Withdraw the Civic Center Priority Development Area
Ciel Niesen-Love June 15, 2013 at 07:41 pm
I, for one, am glad they're finally doing this. I have watched for years as Marin has ignored theRead More population growth that has affected us all. Not wanting to put in a commuter train, until the traffic lining the freeway is backed up into another county in the morning, is just one example of this. Then we have the fact that most of the children that my husband and I went to school with in Terra Linda have had to move to other counties because we can't find affordable housing in this one. To top it all off, it seems that the ones who have blocked us from making the smaller additions throughout the county have been people directly involved in the real estate industry, or just local home owners so worried about the value of their homes going down, that they fail to see the larger picture. So here we are, about to make a stride in alleviating the problem, and instead of rallying to make our communities better, we're trying to make it more difficult for the people who live and grew up here to still remain close to their families, not to mention the disabled adults and large elderly population in this county that are in need of this, as well. Some of the teacher's who work in this district have to commute in that traffic every morning, because they can't afford to live in this county, either. It's a sad commentary on where our priorities are when we can't support each other as a community.
John Parulis June 17, 2013 at 11:44 am
Ciel......we're talking big box freeway developments that will add tremendous traffic, schooling andRead More tax burdens to our community. Your ideas about population growth in Marin are off.
Ciel Niesen-Love June 17, 2013 at 02:49 pm
I know the population in Marin is 1% per year, but why do you think that is? People are livingRead More longer and our children are the healthiest in the country. I'll tell you why. It's because the children grow up and move out of the county, because it's not affordable. Here is an example of my latest thoughts on the matter: As the member of a Native American tribe, I have to say that I really resent being told where I should be able to live by an immigrant such as Richard Hall. I believe that roots are important and even if the growth rate has been 1%, it's only because most of the people who have grown up here can not afford to live here and move away. The elderly who make up a large percent of the population here are living longer due to medical advances and who do you suppose will take care of them? People such as myself and for not nearly enough money to live here. So what do you propose? You think that I should move to the East Bay or the North Bay and commute? Well, due to the lack of transportation support, that sound so lovely, let me tell you. Also, the children in Marin are the healthiest in the country according to a recent article I've read. Lower children death rates and such, so who is supposed to teach them and provide care for them and for not enough money to live here? Well, many teachers and care providers that I know that have to commute or live multiple roommates. You have successfully produced a community that only grows 1% per year. Congratulations. Through your grassroots efforts of blocking housing and transportation for years and claiming they don't live up to your standards, meanwhile not providing any pushes for what you might actually feel is smarter you have shut out your county's own children and hard working patriots. So, we can work for minimum wage taking care of your elderly, your children, your precious houses and cars, but God forbid, our children go to school with yours, or that you might actually have to bump into us at the supermarket and say "hi". This is the attitude which had prevailed here and I and many other people I talk to in my neighborhood and that I've grown up with are sick of it. Also, I'd like to point out that we all work hard, and the opportunity to work has been at the help of all of the people in our communities who have helped rear us. Teachers, nurses, doctors, firemen, policeman, babysitters, and many more. Just because some jobs like teaching or care giving don't provide with as much money, doesn't make them less important. In fact, my grandma used to tell me it "God's work". It takes a village to raise your children and it took a village to raise you all.