By John Ellis — The Fresno Bee – Few among California’s political cognoscenti expected the special election in the Valley’s 16th Senate District to become an expensive, heated, nip-and-tuck showdown between Democrat Leticia Perez and Republican Andy Vidak.

But that’s exactly what has happened since Vidak almost won the strongly Democratic district in the primary. Now the race is the most-watched in California, and could decide whether the Democrats keep their supermajority in the Senate.

Election Day is Tuesday, and on this final weekend of campaigning, both Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, the Democratic leader, and Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff are campaigning in the district.

They will be joined by legions of volunteers coming to the district that runs from Fresno to Bakersfield.

Between June 9 and July 6, both campaigns spent close to $400,000 on television ads alone. Both are also up on radio. They are dropping ads into district mailboxes. Supporters are manning phone banks. And they are doing it in both English and Spanish.

Outside groups are doing much of the same, running their own parallel campaigns. These groups have spent in excess of $1 million in support of — or in opposition to — Vidak or Perez.

The California Association of Realtors, in particular, has turned heads with an independent campaign supporting Vidak that — as of Friday — had spent more than $830,000.

All total, around $4.5 million will be spent on the race, which experts say is more like a November general election, not a special election in the doldrums of a hot Valley summer.

Most experts never expected a runoff between Vidak and Perez in the battle to replace Bakersfield Democrat Michael Rubio, who unexpectedly resigned in February to take a job with Chevron Corp.

via State Senate candidates Vidak, Perez make final pushes | Politics | FresnoBee.com.