Hollywood Unlocked CEO Jason Lee is leading in the race for Stockton City Council.

Local News Matters reports that Lee could face off against Vice Mayor Kimberly Warmsley in a runoff election for the District 6 seat in November.

According to the results when polling ended,  Lee had the lead at 38 percent totaling 874 votes with 730 votes, and Warmsley trailed at 3o percent with 615 votes. 

Other candidates Ralph White, Satnam Singh, Ronnie Murray Sr., and Zobeyda “Zoyla” Moreno each received about 6-8 percent of the votes.

Lee celebrated his victory with a post on Instagram.

“Stockton, thank you for believing in me! We came out on top and made it to the general. If you thought that campaign was something, wait until you see what’s next,” Lee’s post read. “There are still 33,000 uncounted ballots and we are trending up so the numbers will definitely shift.”

“I love my hometown more than anything in the world and the fact that we came out on top shows that you love me too,” Lee continued. “Together we are going to transform the city into the oasis we all know it to be.”

Throughout Lee’s campaign, his platform has been focused on youth empowerment, community engagement, and economic development, which has resonated with voters across the district.

To be elected as a council member in Stockton, a candidate must receive the majority of all votes cast in that district in the primary election. If no candidate receives a majority vote, the top two vote-getters will compete in a runoff election to be held at the general election in November. 

Before coming to fame as a media star, Lee has an extensive community-organizing background, according to The Observer.

He’s advocating for workers’ rights and criminal justice reform. He was employed by a labor union for 11 years as well as within the probation department,  where he had hopes of helping youth get out of the criminal justice system. He has used his platform to shed light on the case of Donte Westmoreland, who faced unjust charges related to marijuana possession and conspiracy.

In his 2019 autobiography “God Must Have Forgotten About Me,” Lee details growing up in south Stockton with a mother who battled a drug addiction which eventually landed him at age seven in the foster care system. As a teenager, he witnessed the murder of his older brother. All those experiences motivated him to pursue an entertainment career.

Lee believes that his years of organizing have prepared him to come back to the place of his birth“to address critical issues surrounding youth empowerment, city revitalization, and ushering in more accountability from city officials.”

“I have this love for the south side area,” Lee said. “I realize that if people don’t start stepping up, particularly people that look like us, we’re going to be in trouble. After looking for people whose campaign I could help finance and really support, I didn’t find anyone who wanted to do it. So I decided to step up and be that person.”