Another election day is in the books in the Golden State. Below is a brief review of the races we have covered over the past few months, along with a few other notable results. Please note that many ballots are still being counted and some results are still being finalized. All numbers and margins mentioned below are subject to adjustment and, where applicable, we have made note of races that are yet to be determined.
25) Palmdale City
Incumbent Mayor Jim Ledford has won a 13th term as Mayor of Palmdale after taking over 57% of the vote. In the newly adopted district system, appointed incumbent Roxana Martinez lost her bid for election in District 1 to small business owner Austin Bishop. Incumbent councilman Fred Thompson was unable to hold off Councilman Steve Hofbauer, losing by what looks like an almost 2-to-1 margin (49.6% to 24.6%). In District 3 Laura Bettancourt defeated educator Robert Alvarado and in District 4, city planner Juan C. Ventura defeated Sandy Corrales 53% to 47%. (AVPress)
24) Isla Vista-CSD
After decades of effort to establish self-governance, the Isla Vista Community Services District passed overwhelmingly with an unofficial 87.5% of the vote. However, the utility tax to fund the new body fell short of the percentage needed as it garnered 62.5% of the vote (needing 66%). The new CSD will go into effect January 1, 2017, but if Isla Vista voters do not approve the tax to fund it by 2023, it will be dissolved. Therefore the CSD has what amounts to a six-year trial to prove its worth.
23) Oakland City Elections
In the at-large city council election, Rebecca Kaplan won a decisive victory over a field of four others including Libby Schaff’s former campaign manager Peggy Moore. Kaplan drew roughly 53% of the vote. Oakland continued the trend in the East Bay by passing into effect a one-cent-per-ounce soda tax. Voters also strengthened eviction protections by passing Measure JJ by a 74% to 26% margin. (NBC Bay Area) Lastly, voters approved the formation of a civilian police commission with 82% of the vote. (NBC Bay Area)
22) Pomona City Elections
If results hold, Pomona will be welcoming in a new mayor and two new councilmembers. Divisive two-term incumbent Mayor Elliott Rothman looks to be on his way out as challenger Tim Sandoval received roughly 61% of the vote to Rothman’s 39%. In District 1, Rubio Gonzalez took in 57% in a three-person race. The races in Districts 4 and 6 are still too close to call. As it stands, Elizabeth Ontiveros-Cole has a slight (22 vote!!!) lead over long-time councilwoman Paula Lantz (first elected in 1991) in D4 and in D6 Congresswoman Norma Torres’ son Robert holds a 73-vote lead over incumbent Debra Martin. (DailyBulletin)
21) Chargers Stadium
The Chargers relocation to Los Angeles is looking more likely after the measure the team had steered onto the ballot to support a new stadium/convention center annex failed miserably. Measure C, which would have resulted in an increase in the local hotel tax to fund the proposed project, achieved roughly 43% voter approval where it needed 66.7%. The team will “explore its options” but has until mid-January to exercise an option to move north. (Union-Tribune)
20) Carson City Elections
Albert “Little Al” Robles has won his first full term as Mayor of the City of Carson over controversial former mayor Jim Dear. Initial estimates have Robles winning by more than 10 points with 55% of the vote. (Daily Breeze)
19) Bakersfield Mayor
Unofficial results indicate that Karen Goh will become Bakerfield’s next Mayor. Goh garnered 51% of the vote to real estate developer Kyle Carter’s 48%. (BakersfieldNow) The results have not been finalized.
18) Santa Clarita City Elections
In Santa Clarita, two seats were up for grabs and eleven candidates on the ballot. While the count is not final, incumbent Mayor Bob Kellar leads with 25% of the vote. Former councilman Cameron Smyth appears poised to rejoin the council after tallying 24% of the vote and is far in front of Councilman TimBen Boydston who drew only 14%. (The Signal)
17) Santa Ana-Ward 3 Election
The Ward 3 seat was up for grabs with seven candidates vying for the seat left open by Angelica Amezcua’s decision to not run for re-election. Former councilmember and state assemblymen Jose Solorio won election to Ward 3 by achieving 43% of the vote; more than 28 points in front of his nearest competitor in the crowded field. (OC Register)
16) Irvine City Elections
Don Wagner, who was termed-out of the state assembly, appears to have won the race for Irvine Mayor with 38% of the vote over Planning Commissioner Mary Ann Guido who is in second place with 33%. In the race for the two open city council seats, which featured 11 total candidates, incumbent Christina Shea and Irvine Commissioner Melissa Fox appear to have come out victorious with 20% and 18% of the vote respectively. Additional mail-in ballots need to be counted before the results are final. (OC Register)
15) Sutter County
Incumbent Ron Sullenger seems to have held off Grace Espinola in the race for Sutter County District 1 Supervisor after garnering 53% of the vote. In District 5, Mat Conant has upset incumbent Barbara LeVake with 59% of the vote. (Gridley)
14) Garden Grove
With 57.3% of the vote, Kim Nguyen has defeated Rickk Montoya to become the first person of Latino descent elected to the Garden Grove City Council in District 6. In District 3, Thu-Ha Nguyen (no relation) won a seat on the council by soundly defeating Republican Clay Bock 64% to 35%. Absentee and provisional ballots still need to be counted. (VoiceOC)
13) Berkeley
A changing of the guard has occurred in the Berkeley City Council. Jesse Arreguin defeated long-time Mayor Tom Bates’ heir apparent Laurie Capitelli with 47% of the vote. Mr. Arreguin becomes the city’s youngest and first Latino mayor. District 2 incumbent Darryl Moore won the initial ballot count but then fell behind city commissioner Cheryl Davila after the rank-choice votes from third place finisher Nancy Armstrong-Temple kicked in. The difference is only 42 votes and is too close to call. Ben Bartlett won the race for District 3 with 56% of the vote. In District 5, Sophie Hahn wins Capitelli’s vacated seat with a resounding 61% of the vote. In District 6, Susan Wengraf won re-election with 60% of the vote. (East Bay Times)
12) Measure M
Los Angeles voters have backed the most ambitious transit expansion plan in the county’s history with 69% of the vote. The plan was heavily backed by Mayor Eric Garcetti as well and will result in roughly $120 Billion in new revenue for transportation over the next four decades. (LA Times)
11) Stockton Mayor’s Race
Stockton voters have sent controversial incumbent Anthony Silva packing by electing 26 year-old city councilman Michael Tubbs as the city’s next mayor by a 70% to 30% margin. Tubbs’ campaign was bolstered by an endorsement from President Obama. (KCRA)
10) San Diego District 3 Supervisor
Roughly 500,000 provisional and absentee ballots are still being counted in San Diego County with incumbent Dave Roberts holding onto a 2,000-vote lead over Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar. Mr. Roberts’ lead has narrowed slightly since last week. If Gaspar can score the upset, it would represent the first time in 20 years that an incumbent San Diego Supervisor has lost re-election. (Union-Tribune)
9) Fremont City
Vice Mayor Lily Mei looks poised to become the first female and the first Asian-American mayor in Fremont’s history. Initial tallies had Mei holding a 50.9%-to-48.7% margin over incumbent mayor Bill Harrison. In the race for the two open council seats, incumbent Vinnie Bacon was the total vote leader and former appointed councilmen Raj Salwan appears to have a comfortable lead over the third place finisher. (East Bay Times)
8) San Diego City Elections
Democrat Mara Elliott will become San Diego’s new City Attorney after defeating Republican Robert Hickey by a 56% to 43% margin. (Union Tribune) Georgette Gomez won the District 9 seat over establishment candidate Ricardo Flores by 5 points (Times of SD) Voters also approved both measures K and L which push all city wide elections and citizen’s initiatives to the November ballot regarding of primary outcomes. The changes are seen as a boost to Democrats in the area. (Union Trib)
7) San Bernardino Supervisor
Robert Lovingood has been re-elected to San Bernardino County District 1 Supervisor’s seat after defeating challenger Anegla Valles 52.8% to 47.1%. (SB Sun) This will be Lovingood’s second term on the board.
6) Moreno Valley
Yxstian Gutierrez becomes Moreno Valley’s first elected Mayor after taking 32% of the vote in an eight-candidate field. Victoria Baca returns to the council in District 1 and retired military Sergeant David Marquez wins in District 3 with 35% of the vote besting three other candidates. (Press-Enterprise)
5) Ontario City
Out of the ten-candidate field, LA County Sheriff’s Deputy Ruben Valencia was the top vote getter with 19% of the vote. Incumbent Debra Porada will return to the council after finishing second with 17.5% of the total vote. Paul Avila will not return for a second term but is expected to run for state Assembly in 2018. In the City Clerk’s race, appointed incumbent Sheila Mautz has won her first full term after taking 47% of the vote. (Daily Bulletin)
4) Orange County District 1 Supervisor
Andrew Do leads in the race for O.C. District 1 Supervisor with 53% of the vote over Santa Ana councilwoman Michele Martinez. Do spent over $800,000 on the race-four times what Martinez’s campaign spent-making it the most expensive supervisor campaign in twenty years. The race was an important Republican hold and underscores the influence of the district’s Vietnamese community who seem to have propelled Do to victory despite a 14 point Latino advantage. There are still roughly 400,000 votes to be counted in the district, but recent elections have seen strong Vietnamese community turnout via absentee ballot.
3) San Francisco City Ballot Measures
Prop D - Vacancy Appointments (50%+1 to pass) - Received 52.9% NO
Prop F - Youth Voting (50%+1 to pass) - Received 52.7% NO
Prop H - Public Advocate (50%+1 to pass) - Received 53% NO
Prop J - Funding for Homelessness and Transportation (50%+1 to pass) - Received 66.5% YES
Prop K - General Sales Tax (50%+1 to pass) Received 65.1% NO. This would have raised the funds to support Proposition J.
Prop L - MTA Appointments and Budget (50%+1 to pass) - Received 55.5% NO
Prop M - Housing and Development Commission (50%+1 to pass) -Received 56.4% NO
Prop Q - Prohibiting Tents on Public Sidewalks (50%+1 to pass) -Received 52.2% YES
2) LA County Supervisors Race
Janice Hahn will continue the family dynasty in LA politics after receiving 56% of the vote in the District 4 race over Steve Napolitano. Kathryn Barger will replace her boss, Michael Antonovich, in District 5 after receiving 59% of the vote. For the first time in history, four of the five members of the board will be women. Hahn’s victory also gives Dems a 4-to-1 advantage on the board (it had been 3-2). (LA Times)
1) Anaheim City
Councilman Jordan Brandman is clinging to a 312-vote lead over challenger Jose Moreno in the Anaheim City Council District 3 race. (OCVote) Brandman, who has strong support from corporate interests, was seen as vulnerable due to the newly adopted city district map where Latinos have their strongest presence in District 3. Due to the slim margin the race has not been finalized. (Voice of OC)
PLUS:
Revenue Measures
Voters across the state approved a record number of local revenue measures Tuesday. Preliminary results showed at least 343 of 430 tax and bond measures passing. There were over 50 marijuana-related measures, including 39 imposing taxes. Almost all of those passed.
Highland and Lake Forest
Two members of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Highland Mayor Larry McCallon and Lake Forest Councilman Dwight Robinson, have also been elected to their respective council positions. In Highland, which had its first vote under the newly-implemented district-based election system, McCallon (District 5) and Councilman John Timmer (District 4) were sent back to the dais along with newcomers Jesus “Jesse” Chavez and Anaeli Solano in Districts 1 and 2. In Lake Forest, Robinson was finishing second place in a six-way race for two council seats behind challenger Leah Basile. That means incumbent Adam Nick is out.
Santa Clara City Council
Voters in Santa Clara sided with Mayor Lisa Gillmor over the San Francisco 49ers by re-electing three of her allies and known critics of the team to the city council. A total of four seats were up for grabs. The winners were Debbi Davis in District 3, Patty Mahan in District 4, Kathy Watanabee in District 6, and Teresa O’Neill in District 7. Of those, only Mahan has been perceived as friendly to the team. (Mercury News)
Woodland City Council
The City of Woodland will have a younger City Council that is majority Latino for the first time in its history after electing two new Latinos to the city council. 44.2% of voters chose 27-year-old Enrique Fernandez over his cousin, candidate Joe Romero (32.1%) and incumbent Sean Denny (32.1%) for District 4. In District 5, 33-year-old Xóchitl Rodriguez was elected with 54% of the vote, beating out Brent Vann and James Vorhees. Voters also re-elected Tom Stallard in District 2. This was the first district-based election for Woodland. (Daily Democrat)