Election Day in the East Bay featured a number of notable contests, from county supervisors to state senators to local measures with regional significance. In early returns, the races in the East Bay have mostly gone as expected, with one major surprise.
In Alameda County, the Board of Supervisors saw a high-profile race to replace longtime supervisor Keith Carson, who who announced his retirement in a surprise move in December. The nine-candidate field consisted of mayors, city council members, political organizers, lawyers, and executives.
Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas held a lead over John Bauters, the former Emeryville mayor who racked up a series of endorsements in the weeks leading up to the election. They were followed by Berkeley city council member Ben Bartlett.
If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters will move to a November runoff election. Although Bas so far is comfortably in the lead, Bauters was only narrowly ahead of Bartlett for the second spot as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.
In other results, board members David Haubert and Elisa Marquez, both who were running unopposed, retained their seats. The long shot bid to unseat board president Nate Miley seems to have come up short. Nurse Jennifer Esteen, Miley’s challenger, was far behind in early returns.
Voters also chose a new Contra Costa County supervisor on Tuesday.
Mike Barbanica was inching ahead in the competitive race for Contra Costa County’s District 5 supervisor seat — the first time it’s been open in nearly a quarter century.
Early election results Tuesday night show Barbanica in the lead to represent the district, which represents the county’s northern waterfront, encompassing Martinez, Hercules, Pittsburg and a sliver of Antioch, as well as a dozen other unincorporated communities.
Immediately after the polls closed, Shanelle Scales-Preston and Jelani Killings were starting to trail behind the pack. Current Supervisor Federal Glover announced his retirement after 24 years in December, setting the stage for an election that some say could reshape the politics of East Contra Costa County.
Elsewhere in the East Bay, the race for the State Senate District 5 seat featured some surprise results.
The race had featured heavy outside spending by and oil and gas PACs as well as nurse and educators unions, all in favor of the two Democrats in the race – Congressman Jerry McNerney and Carlos Villapudua. But surprisingly, Republican and political newcomer Jim Shoemaker outpaced both Democrats in early returns. Shoemaker had raised only $7,000 for his campaign, compared to hundreds of thousands of dollars by McNerney and Villapudua.
If current results hold, McNerney and Shoemaker would advance to a runoff in November.
A competitive race among five Democrats to replace termed out Berkeley Democrat Nancy Skinner in Senate District 7 narrowed down to two candidates on Tuesday as well. In that race, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín was ahead of California Labor Federation President Kathryn Lybarger in early returns.
Three other notable East Bay Democrats were also vying for the spot — former state Assemblymember Sandré Swanson, AC Transit Board member Jovanka Beckles, and Oakland Councilmember Dan Kalb, along with a single Republican, Jeanne Solnordal.
Assemblyman Tim Grayson had pulled far ahead in the race for Steve Glazer’s recently vacated state Senate District 9 seat, according to early election results posted Tuesday night.
San Ramon Councilmember Marisol Rubio was trailing far behind a few hours after the polls closed. Depending on final polling, the two candidates, both Democrats, could square off again in the November election. The district, which spans Martinez, Concord, Antioch, Brentwood and large swaths of unincorporated Contra Costa County, is home to more than a half-million residents.
Election night also featured two more notable races in the State Assembly and the US house. Lateefah Simon, a BART director who promises to help expand public transportation throughout the country, led early returns in the primary election to replace Rep. Barbara Lee in the state’s 12th congressional district.
Simon appeared poised to ascend to November’s general election, where she would face off against a challenger who’d emerge from a pool of relatively unknown candidates in the primary.
In Assembly seat 15, Anamaria Avila Farias was neck and neck with Sonia Ledo in the race to replace outgoing California State Assemblymember Tim Grayson, according to early results immediately after the polls closed Tuesday. Farias and Ledo are currently leading the four hopefuls to represent District 15, which spans Martinez, Concord, Antioch, Brentwood and large swaths of unincorporated Contra Costa County.
The top two finishers in the March 5 primary will face off on the November ballot for the two-year legislative term.
Beyond candidates, Measure B, which Alameda County officials have argued is necessary to overhaul outdated recall rules, was on the ballot Tuesday. It was unclear how the measure would fare on Election Day after it was criticized by those on both sides of District Attorney Pamela Price’s recall effort as well as county watchdog groups. In early returns the measure was widely supported by the electorate.
Although the measure’s success or failure won’t affect the signature gathering effort involving Price, it could affect how her replacement is chosen, if it comes to that.
Under current rules, her potential replacement would be chosen by voters in the same recall election. Should Measure B pass, the Board of Supervisors would instead appoint the new district attorney. Under the new rules, election officials would have 30 days to verify recall petition signatures, rather than 10 days under the current charter.