Lemoore voters pass Measure K with 72.17 percent of the vote in Tuesday's election

County and city officials were mostly upbeat as the first returns came in at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday night as they waited in the Lemoore Train Depot, munching on tri-tip and appetizers. However, they had to wait a long time to learn the final verdict, which came in at 5:49 a.m.

The plan was that Measure K would redirect the additional .25 percent sales tax revenue to a fund specifically earmarked for fire and police operations and infrastructure throughout Kings County, which includes the cities of Hanford, Lemoore, Avenal and Corcoran.  It is conservatively estimated that Measure K would generate up to $4 million annually. 

The semi-official numbers revealed that Measure K lost by the narrowest of margins, garnering 66.37 percent, which in most elections would be a landslide, but due to the nature of Measure K, needed 66.6 percent to pass, a two-thirds requirement.

Measure K received 11,761 out of 17,720 votes cast. It would have needed just 51 votes to pass. There are still a few provisional ballots to be counted, which could change the outcome.

Of the 48,523 voters registered in Kings County, only 18,416 voted on election day. Most did so by mail, turning in 14,729 votes. A number of city officials were on hand Tuesday night, including Lemoore Mayor Lois Wynne, councilmembers Ray Madrigal and Jeff Chedester and City Manager Andi Welsh.

While Lemoore’s voters gave it a big thumbs up, Avenal, Corcoran and the unincorporated area of Kings County, came up with impressive numbers, but not quite impressive enough to pass the overall measure.

Avenal’s voters passed it with 65.24 percent, while Corcoran was at 64.82 percent. Kings County unincorporated checked in the lowest at 61.44, which probably doomed the measure. Hanford would have passed it on its own with an impressive 67.38 showing.

Lemoore’s share of the more than $4 million expected to be raised by the passage of Measure K would have been roughly $675,000, all for public safety, to go to the police and fire department.

Kings County’s top law enforcement officer, Dave Robinson, was also on hand and early on was optimistic as he saw early returns at 66.33 percent. He also lauded the campaign effort over the past few months that got the Measure so close to passage. “We had a great team effort,” said Robinson who helped spearhead the campaign for Measure K. “We really pushed this measure and tried to educate the voters so that way they could at least be informed when they stepped into the polling place.”