Hub Walsh concedes seat to Lee Lor during Merced supervisors meeting

District 2 county Supervisor incumbent Hub Walsh has conceded his seat to challenger Lee Lor following newly released election results that showed Lor in the lead.

“I’ve been honored to have served in this community for almost two decades now when you count the time with the City Council and as mayor, and now on this board,” Walsh said.

Election results released on Tuesday showed Lor in the lead for the seat with 53.56 percent of the votes.

Walsh made the statement Tuesday during the regular supervisors meeting after the board selected District 3 Supervisor Daron McDaniel to attend the California State Association of Counties meeting at the end of the month. Walsh previously served as a representative at CSAC.

“Because of that, I wasn’t going to go to CSAC and I’m not going to be on the board of directors so we needed to make a decision today,” Walsh said during the meeting.

The board had to choose a representative and an alternate with only two choices – McDaniel and District 5 Supervisor Jerry O’Banion – since unofficial election results indicated Walsh wouldn’t return for another term.

District 1 Supervisor John Pedrozo lost his seat in June to challenger and Livingston Mayor Rodrigo Espinoza. The District 4 seat also will have a new supervisor in the new year, Lloyd Pareira, after incumbent Deidre Kelsey announced her retirement last year.

That means three new supervisors will take seats at the beginning of the year.

Pedrozo, Walsh and Kelsey will all attend their last supervisor meeting on Dec. 20.

Walsh congratulated Lor and wished her the best.

Lor, 34, works as the executive director of the Merced County Education Fund. She will be the first Hmong American woman to hold an elected position in the Central Valley and the second in California as a whole.

Walsh, 66, was elected to the board in 2008 and previously served two terms on the Merced City Council and two terms as the Merced mayor. He worked for Merced County for many years in the Human Services Agency as well as serving nine years with Madera County as the director of the Social Services Department.

This story was originally published November 24, 2016 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Hub Walsh concedes seat to Lee Lor during Merced supervisors meeting."