Robert Rao

His narrow primary victory in the books, San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson is looking ahead to what many expect will be a tough fight to represent California's 15th Assembly District,

By a little over 200 votes, Wilson triumphed over small businessman Robert Rao of Livermore in the GOP primary, and will now face Democratic winner Joan Buchanan, a San Ramon Valley Unified School District trustee.

That matchup favors the Republican, said Matthew Del Carlo, Wilson's campaign manager.

Certified results from the Contra Costa County's elections office make Abram Wilson the winner of the Republican primary in the California 15th Assembly District.

Wilson, the mayor of San Ramon, won by about 300 votes over Robert Rao, a small businessman from Livermore.  That gave Wilson about 30 percent of the vote and Rao 29.5 percent.

San Ramon Valley Unified School District board member Joan Buchanan said she'll be ramping up her campaign for California's 15th Assembly District seat by August.

Buchanan, a Democrat from Alamo, will be doing so while the final word on who her Republican opponent will be is still up in the air. Buchanan believes she'll ultimately face San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson, who led Robert Rao, a small businessman from Livermore, by less than 300 votes in the most recent tally from the June 3 primary.

Republican Assembly candidate Robert Rao said he's not ready to concede the 15th Assembly District primary until all votes are counted.

Rao, a small businessman from Livermore, is about 280 votes behind San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson in the district, with about 2,500 provisional and absentee ballots still to be counted in Contra Costa County.