The presidential election was called quickly, but at the local level the counting continues.
Ahead of an expected evening update of returns by the San Benito County Clerk's office, political newcomer Roxanne Gonzalez Stephens held a commanding lead over incumbent Mayor Mia Casey.
Stephens says her top priority is slowing the addition of more housing at least for a bit.
“Until we have the time—which is the second priority—to deal with some infrastructure issues,” she said. “The main one being fixing some of our really, really bad roads.”
Stephens also wants to support small businesses and encourage more economic development. She’d like to see the popular Biker Rally return. It hasn’t happened since 2017.
Stephens supported Measure W, which Hollister voters seem to have approved, to keep the mayor’s term to two years. She says it fosters accountability—though doesn’t give her a lot of time to get things done.
“So I want to have a really clear focus, as well as a realistic number of goals that I can accomplish,” she said.
In Pacific Grove, political newcomer Nick Smith appears headed to the mayor’s office, where he apparently will preside over a seven member city council. Voters there again seem to have shot down a proposal to cut the council to five, which Smith previously supported.
“I said at the beginning of this campaign, I(’ll) let the voters decide that issue,” he said. “I'm not going to be involved. And they decided it.”
With some 50,000 ballots not yet counted in Monterey County, it nonetheless appears former Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue is poised to reclaim that office. He plans to offer a fresh start in the city.
“My approach will be a clean slate. We're all in it together,” he said. “Nobody wins in a vacuum. I need the support of a council, as well, to be effective.”
Donohue leads his closest rival, Chris Barrera, by almost 34 percentage points.
Monterey County plans to issue another update late in the day on Friday.
In Santa Cruz County several close contests could go either way. Those include the race for Supervisor in District 2, which currently shows Kim De Serpa slightly ahead… and the soda tax, Measure Z, in the city of Santa Cruz, where the yes side has a slim majority.
Statewide, voters rejected Proposition 5, which would have reduced the threshold of votes needed to pass certain bond measures from two-thirds to 55%. Had the prop passed, even measures on Tuesday’s ballot would have been affected.
But since it didn’t pass, the two-thirds threshold remains and that means of three fire district bonds in Santa Cruz County, only Zayante appears to have the needed votes.
All results remain preliminary until certified next month. Ballots postmarked by Election Day or dropped in a ballot return box by that day will be collected and counted up through Tuesday Nov. 12.
For complete local election results, visit:
