SACRAMENTO--Christopher Cabaldon's quest to become the first Filipino-American member of the California Assembly ended today--at least for now.

Cabaldon, the youthful mayor of West Sacramento--the capital's twin city across the river--lost by a mere 460 votes to Yolo County Supervisor Mariko Yamada for the Democratic Party nomination in the 8th Assembly District.

Cabaldon may have lost, but pundits are not counting him out. The experts are of the opinion that given another chance, he'd eventually blaze the trail for Fil-Ams aspiring for California Legislature seats.

The real marquee match up that kept both political and sports junkies awake until the wee hours of Wednesday was the Kevin Johnson-Heather Fargo tussle for mayor of Sacramento.

The contest has so far ended in a draw, so to speak, with both headed possibly to a run-off election in November.

Johnson, the former NBA star, had 47 percent of the vote, to 40 percent for Fargo, the incumbent.

If no candidate amasses more than 50 percent of the total tally, the two leading vote-getters--Johnson and Fargo--will have to face each other again in the fall.

Johnson has so far dodged the bullet that has felled a fellow sports icon with an eye for politics--Filipino boxing megastar Manny Pacquiao.

He has not allowed Fargo to effectively pull another Darlene Antonino Custodio--the diminutive but strong-willed woman politician who knocked out Pacquiao in the Cotabato political arena.

But unlike Darlene, who led from the get-go in her congressional fight with Manny, Heather, the incumbent with less money, has managed to stave off three Johnson attributes: name recall, NBA and business achievements and connections.

Johnson, the three-time NBA All-Star, had been the prohibitive favorite, until his poll numbers plummeted and his choir boy image shattered a few weeks before the voting.

"Politics are dirtier and more physical than the NBA," Johnson told the Bee.

The 42-year-old Johnson who returned to Sacramento after his NBA days, found himself seven points behind Fargo a day before election.

The former Phoenix Suns guard has discovered that politics is indeed more bruising than his legendary matchups on the hard court with Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.