It looks like there will be at least one fresh face on the Lathrop City Council. 

With 7 of 12 precincts reporting as of 12:30 a.m., Lathrop Planning Commissioner Diane Lazard is firmly in the second place in the run for two available four-year terms on the city’s governing body – maintaining a 183 vote lead over the third place candidate. 

Incumbent councilman Paul Akinjo, who trailed Lazard in early returns but later crept into the lead, appears to be headed to another term as the leading vote getter in the race. Akinjo was elected in 2014 following a two-year appointment to serve the remainder of current mayor Sonny Dhaliwal’s term on the council when he ascended to the city’s top elected post. 

Dhaliwal, who was running unopposed, will be the city’s mayor for at least another two years. 

Minnie “Cotton” Diallo is currently in third place with 666 votes, while Debra Rock is in fourth place with 386 votes. 

Currently only 125 votes separate incumbent Steve Dresser – who is running for the second half of the unexpired term that was created with elected councilman Ruben Salcedo passed away just days after being sworn into office – from Lathrop planning commissioner Jennifer Torres-O’Callaghan. If Dresser’s lead holds, it will be the second election in a row that he has been elected to fill the remainder of an unexpired term. 

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.