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Now that the primary election is officially in the books, let’s take a closer look at the certified results for contests relevant to the Tri-Valley.
While the races were interesting, there weren’t really any nail-biters here at the local level in the March 5 primary. Basically all of the Election Night numbers tracked with the final outcomes, even as both Alameda and Contra Costa counties’ elections departments issued multiple updates over ensuing weeks.
Take the Zone 7 Water Agency Board of Directors: Current directors Laurene Green (32.86%), Kathy Narum (25.81%) and Sandy Figuers (24.31%) held their positions comfortably for the three full terms on the ballot. Despite an assertive campaign, challenger Alan Burnham couldn’t make enough headway and finished outside with 17.02%, or more than 6,700 votes back.
One lesson here is the power of incumbency for local elections. Keep that in mind as you watch who the BART board picks in the coming weeks to temporarily replace John McPartland, who resigned as the District 5 director in the Tri-Valley. That person will have a significant edge – on name recognition alone – heading into the November general election for that same seat.
The appointment momentum could come into play if the July 2 recall is successful in ousting Sunol school board trustees Ryan Jergensen and Linda Hurley, which would lead to two new people being named to their seats. Same could go for Alameda County district attorney, if the recall campaign against Pamela Price qualifies for the ballot and ultimately wins.
Oh, wait. Back to Zone 7: Can’t overlook that Cathy Brown trounced Seema Badar (who was a winner elsewhere in the election) 82.21% to 17.79% for the two-year short term on the water board.
Comfortable margins were really the theme of the primary for our coverage area.
The closest contest by my count was the Alameda County Superior Court judgeship won by Mark Fickes at 55.22% over Michael Johnson at 44.78%.
I can’t wait to find out what Terry Wiley, who won the other judgeship after being on the ballot uncontested, decides to do given he was hired some four months ago as the inaugural inspector general for the San Francisco sheriff’s department. He hasn’t announced which job he’ll choose.
Alameda County District 4 Supervisor Nate Miley easily dispatched with progressive challenger Jennifer Esteen (60.71% to 39.29%) to win a seventh consecutive term. His district includes a large portion of Pleasanton.
District 1 Supervisor David Haubert, the Tri-Valley’s other rep, had to appear on the ballot despite being unchallenged because there were other contested supervisor elections this March. He won, of course.
That rule also led to Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Márquez appearing on the solo ballot for a two-year position for District 2 (completing the unexpired term of the late Richard Valle), as well as Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Andersen, the longtime San Ramon Valley incumbent who won reelection to her District 2 unopposed.
Though not in our area, we will be watching the supervisor runoffs coming in November for Alameda County District 5 between Oakland City Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas (34.05%) and Emeryville City Councilmember John Bauters (20.70%) and Contra Costa County District 5 between Antioch City Councilmember Mike Barbanica (38.70%) and Pittsburg City Councilmember Shanelle Scales-Preston (35.07%).
The two Alameda County-wide ballot measures passed easily: Measure A, to change the county’s job announcement period, 59.47% Yes to 40.53% No; and Measure B, amending the county recall regulations, 64.45% Yes to 35.55% No.
As I teased before, Badar was one of four people picked by local Democrats for a little-known elected office: the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee for the 16th Assembly District. Badar finished third – also winning, above her, were former Pleasanton councilmember Cheryl Cook-Kallio and ex-Livermore councilmember Trish Munro.
Notable names with Tri-Valley ties on the list of eight winners for the 20th Assembly District’s Democratic Central Committee were outgoing Dublin Mayor Melissa Hernandez, county school board Trustee Aisha Knowles and Márquez.
Former congressional candidates Alison Hayden and Joseph Grcar were among the six winners for the Republican Party’s 20th District Central Committee. I didn’t recognize any of the 11 people elected to the Green Party County Council.
Of the local representatives to state and federal legislatures, the only interesting campaign was State Senate District 5 for the southern Tri-Valley east into San Joaquin County. Republican Jim Shoemaker (43.7%) will face former congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) who earned 33.2%.
The final contest could come down to who picks up votes of third-place finisher, Stockton Democrat Carlos Villapudua (23.1%), and what the splits are like between the two counties (McNerney was 38.1% to Shoemaker’s 36.5% in Alameda, and they were flopped in San Joaquin with Shoemaker at 46.6% and McNerney at 31.2%).
The other contested state races were shoo-ins for runoff, with both sets of candidates automatically advancing to the general election by law, regardless of margin.
In Assembly District 16, incumbent Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) was 65.5% to challenger Joe Rubay (R-Alamo) at 34.5%. In State Senate District 9, Assemblymember Tim Grayson (D-Concord) led fellow Democrat and San Ramon City Councilmember Marisol Rubio 59.6% to 40.4%. Both trailing candidates have a lot of ground to make up by November.
District 20 Assemblymember Liz Ortega (D-Hayward) was unopposed in the primary in her bid for a second term.
Federally, Tri-Valley Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (66.7%) will compete against Republican Vin Kruttiventi (17.6%) on Nov. 5 for Congressional District 14 after a four-candidate primary.
In Congressional District 10 for the San Ramon Valley, incumbent Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) earned 65.5% to top the five-person primary, with Republican Katherine Piccinini in second place with 18.9% to earn the other spot in the general election.
The Tri-Valley will have a close connection to the U.S. Senate seat up for grabs in November.
Monte Vista High School alum Adam Schiff, a Democratic congressman representing the Burbank area, advanced to general to face former pro baseball player Steve Garvey, a Southern California Republican with no past elected experience. Other notable Senate candidates, outgoing Democratic congresswomen Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, finished third and fourth in the crowded ballot.
I also encourage you to follow our sister paper, the Palo Alto Weekly, for ongoing coverage of the intriguing primary result for the 16th Congressional District, which former San Jose mayor Sam Liccardo led but saw a second-place tie between Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian and State Assemblymember Evan Low – meaning all three candidates could appear on the general election ballot, unless a recount attempt is successful in changing the numbers.
But of the trove of percentages from the March 5 election, the set that stands out the most to me? Turnout.
Alameda County reported only 35.17% of registered voters cast ballots (330,304 people out of 939,274), while Contra Costa County saw slightly better at 37.94% participation (269,462 people out of 710,254 registered).
Let’s hope those totals tick up dramatically in November.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.
