Krekorian arrived at his campaign headquarters at the Minx restaurant in Glendale on Tuesday as the first ballot results began coming in.
Before convening with his supporters, Krekorian shared some of the things he felt he could bring as a legislator if elected.
"I think my experience of being on the [Burbank Unified] school board is going to be a great asset that I'll be able to rely upon because we worked hard to build coalitions and partnerships in Burbank and that's paid great dividends in our turning around the school district," he said. "And in the same way, I think by building consensus in Sacramento, I think we'll be able to help bring change to public education and hopefully make our public education system in California the pride of the state as it once was."
Krekorian said he would focus on shared goals in his constituency in order to make progress in Sacramento.
"The people in this district have common interests: Everyone cares that their child gets an excellent education; everyone cares about having access to affordable health insurance," he said. "So I think those things that we have in common are much more important than anything that divides us."
Agbaba, who presented himself during his campaign as an autonomous candidate — a "free-thinking Republican" who was not beholden to special-interest groups — was also optimistic about his chances, however. Representing the majority of constituents — not splinter groups with specific agendas — is a legislator's responsibility, he said.
On Tuesday night Agbaba was pleased with the initial results.
"So far, what I'm seeing is very positive based on the voter registration — not even 1% has come in and there's just under 3,000 votes difference," he said. "So I feel very confident. It all depends on the other precincts that come in…. It's going to be a long night."
In the 59th State Assembly District, Republican Anthony Adams was leading with 58.93% percent of the vote with absentee ballots counted and six precincts reporting. Democratic candidate Elliott Barkan was in second with 35.92% and Jill Stone, the Libertarian candidate, had 5.15%.
But initial results did not dishearten Barkan.
"All I know is that we really campaigned very hard and I did reach out to many different groups in the community, and I'm hoping that there will be some thoughtful responses to that," Barkan said.
