“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” – Abraham Lincoln
If there is one word to describe voter turnout for local elections in Santa Cruz County, that word might be ‘pitiful.’
In the town of Patagonia less than 16% of eligible voters managed to cast their votes for Town Council candidates. Francesca Claverie was the top vote getter with 84 votes, Michael Stabile got 71 votes, Gary Retherford got 60 votes, and Ron Reibslager got 41 votes. The top three vote getters—Claverie, Stabile and Retherford—will now serve on the Town Council.
As the PRT goes to print on August 1, the County’s Elections Dept. has released the latest numbers for the July 30 primary. These numbers are labeled ‘unofficial,’ and there are 103 early ballots and 54 provisional ballots yet to be tabulated. The PRT will update the primary election results on our website as we receive new information from the County.
In the Board of Supervisors District 3 Democratic primary race, challenger John Fanning has received 1,458 votes. Two-term incumbent Bruce Bracker got 896 votes. Fanning will advance to the Nov. 5 general election to face Republican Jesus Jerez.
In the District 1 Democratic primary, Luis Carlos Davis, a 46-year-old teacher at Nogales High School, leads incumbent Manny Ruiz, who has served as Supervisor for more than 20 years, by a narrow margin of 15 votes. This race is too close to call.
And in the District 2 Democratic primary, incumbent Rudy Molera has received 633 votes, 152 votes ahead of his closest competitor, Bettina Damon.
In the Democratic primary election for County Sheriff, incumbent David Hathaway, with 2,819 votes, handily defeated second place finisher Rafael Corrales, who got 1067 votes. Mario Morales received 1,016 votes. Joe Agosttini received 286 votes, and perennial candidate Andrew Ibarra received 130 votes. Hathaway will face Independent Travis Arnold in the general election.
Adriana Olaiz, a court interpreter, leads Miguel Lopez by 64 votes in the race for Justice of the Peace in the Democratic primary to date. Lopez, an attorney, had been appointed to be Justice of the Peace to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Judge Emilio Velasquez last December. The winner of this race will face Rachel Sedgwick, who is running as an Independent, in the November 5 general election.
Assessor Pablo Ramos, with 3218 votes, defeated his challenger Octavio Gradillas, who received 1984 votes.
Alejandro Paz, running for the office of County Treasurer as a write-in, was appointed by the Board of Supervisors this spring after the resignation of former Treasurer Liz Gutfahr. He will be running in the general election against Independent Carola Romero.
Out of 13,597 registered Democrats, 5,618 (41.32%) voted in the primary. Out of 5,320 registered Republicans, 2,132 (40.08%) voted in the primary. Only 25.29% of all registered voters in Santa Cruz County voted in the primary election.
Our county officials are facing some really big issues. Close to $40 million (so far) has been identified as having been stolen from the county treasury, 70% of which has been reported as having been stolen from county schools. Industrialized mining threatens the very character and health of eastern Santa Cruz County and the County is negotiating with South32 to establish a community protections and benefits agreement. Residents in Sonoita and Elgin are worrying about the effects of development on our water, our open spaces, and our way of life. The very least we, as citizens, can do is show up to vote.
It isn’t hard to vote. You can request an early ballot that will come in the mail. You can then mail it in, drop it off early at a polling place, or take it to the polls on election day. The County even offers curbside voting.
Let’s hope for a better turnout for the general election on November 5.