General Elections: Local Votes Update

Koenig Ousts Supervisor Leopold; Trujillo, Hernandez To Join Cabrillo Board

By Jondi Gumz

Votes are still being counted from the Nov. 3 election, but it’s clear some voters in Santa Cruz County were looking for change.

Challenger Manu Koenig, who supports turning the Santa Cruz rail corridor into a pathway for people on bikes and on foot, got 57 percent of the vote to upset three-term incumbent John Leopold in the First District county supervisor race to represent Live Oak, Soquel and the Summit.

With 31,000 votes cast in the supervisor race, Koenig has seen his margin grow to 4,300 more votes than Leopold.

Leopold posted on social media saying, “Although I wanted a different result, I accept the will of the voters.”

He offered his assistance to Koenig in the transition and said he would look for new ways to contribute to the community.

Koenig posted on social media that he was honored to get that call. He supported legalizing tiny homes, streamlining permitting, a one-to-one needle exchange, and wildfire alert devices on cell towers.

He said his campaign was inclusive, and his team included people from ages 19 to 90, from all parties, all races and ethnicities.

“I’m ready to work to implement the changes we need,” he concluded.

Running for the Cabrillo College governing board, Steven Laird Trujillo, an author and retired history teacher who wants the process to deliberate changing the college name to be more public and transparent, got 61 percent of the vote, unseating incumbent Edward K. Banks, who has been on the board since 2012.

Trujillo said he researched Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1992 to write curriculum for a new college prep course at Alisal High School on Mexican-American history, contending he was a thief with a history of sexual conquests who should not be a role model.

Also running for the Cabrillo board, two-term Watsonville City Council member Felipe Hernandez got 63 percent of the vote to unseat incumbent Leticia Mendoza, executive director of the Watsonville YWCA, who sought a second term.

In a race for a seat on the Santa Cruz County Board of Education, challenger Ed Acosta, an ag manager, got 76 percent of the vote, unseating incumbent Dana Sales, a real estate agent who has been on the board since 1992. Acosta filed a ballot statement and Sales did not.

In the San Lorenzo Valley Water District race for two seats, newcomers Gail Mahood, a retired geology professor with support from Democrats and Republicans, got 9,342 votes, followed by Tina Marie To, an environmental scientist, with 5,458. They unseated incumbent Lew Farris, a biotech manager appointed to the board, in third place with 3,837 and with newcomer Beth Thomas, a retired education director, finishing fourth with 3,685.

Hundreds of ballots remain to be reviewed, according to an update posted by County Clerk Gail Pellerin, the top election official in the county, on votescount.us

“The law gives us until Dec. 1 to certify the election,” .she wrote. “Our plan is to have most ballots in and counted before Thanksgiving.”

Provisional ballots must be researched. In some cases, the voter signature on the envelope does not compare to the signature on file so attempts are being made to contact those voters. Voters have until Nov. 29 to “cure” the signature.

The numbers in this report come from the update posted Nov. 12 at votescount.us but they are not final.

In the Scotts Valley City Council race for three seats, incumbent and current mayor Randy Johnson leads with 4,557 votes. Close behind are incumbents and former mayors Donna Lind with 4,469 and Jack Dilles with 4,321. Challenger John Lewis, an engineer, had 2,640.

In the Scotts Valley Unified School District, support for a $49 million bond measure has declined a bit, with 52.86 percent in favor, short of the 55 percent needed to pass.

In the Capitola City Council race for two seats, incumbent Kristen Petersen (currently mayor) is leading with 3,596 votes. Small business owner Margaux Keiser is next with 2,372 votes, ahead of Will Little Bear Reising, an entrepreneur, with 1,585 and Anthony Rovai, a financial advisor, with 1,394.

In the Soquel Creek Water District race for two seats, incumbents Bruce Daniels and Tom LaHue are far ahead of challengers Maria Marsilio and Corrie Kates. Daniels has 16,830 votes, LaHue 11,826, Marsilio 5,697 and Kates 4,300.

In the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency race, Stephen Rider has 54 percent to 44 percent for John Kegebein with a few write-ins.

Not all the incumbents are in trouble with the voters.

For a Cabrillo seat, incumbent Rachael Spencer has 61 percent of the vote to 38 percent for challenger Diana Alfaro, a housing project manager.

Incumbent Sandra Nichols, a retired teacher, has 65 percent to 35 percent for Mike Kubo, a research scientist, in the race for county board of education Area 3.

Newcomer Alyssa Wall, an educator, has 63 percent of the vote to 37 percent for newcomer Brad Williams, an emergency room nurse, in the race to succeed Jane Barr  to represent Area 5 on the county board of education.

In the Pajaro Valley Unified School District board races, which are by district:

Two-term incumbent Maria Orozco, founding board member of Pajaro Valley Education Association, has 58 percent to 41 percent for Adam Bolanos Scow, an environmental advocate.

And Amanda Hernandez, a patient care technician, has 53 percent to 45 percent for Oscar Soto, a safety inspector, in the race to succeed Karen Osmundson.

In the race for Superior Court judge, Nancy De La Pena has 69 percent of the vote to 29 percent for Annrae Angel, who had stopped campaigning.

In races for Congress and State Legislature, incumbent Democrats prevailed.

• Rep. Jimmy Panetta has 82 percent to 17.5 percent for Republican Jeff Gorman.
• Rep. Anna Eshoo has 63 percent to 37 percent for Rishi Kumar, her Democrat challenger.
• Assemblyman Mark Stone has 78 percent to 22 percent for Republican Shomir Banerjee.
• Assemblyman Robert Rivas has 81 percent to 19 percent for Republican Gregory Swett.
• John Laird, former assemblyman and former Santa Cruz mayor, has 77 percent to 22.5 percent for Republican Vicki Nohrden.

So far, election turnout in Santa Cruz County was 85 percent compared to 84 percent in 2016.

This election was different because of safety precautions due to COVID-19, the contagious coronavirus. Mail ballots were sent to registered voters, under an executive order by Gov. Newsom, exceeding his authority, Sutter Superior Court Judge Sarah Heckman ruled, but it didn’t affect the election because the Legislature passed a subsequent law authorizing the all-mail mandate.

The mailed ballots led to 132,339 votes by mail and 12,785 voting in person, according to the count updated by the Santa Cruz County Elections Office on Nov. 12.

votescount.us