Mendocino County’s Election Results Are In— Incumbents Dominate Except in the Race for Superintendent of Schools ?

Three weeks after Mendocino County voters took to the polls in the June 7 elections, the results have been finalized by Registrar of Voters Katrina Bartolomie and her staff.

In the specific races we’ve followed, the overwhelming trend was the incumbent winning the voter confidence of the Mendocino County public. 5th District Supervisor Ted Williams, 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak, and Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall retained their positions despite facing challengers

The outlier is the race for Mendocino County Superintendent of Schools. Challenger Nicole Glentzer has beat out incumbent Michelle Hutchins.

County Superintendent of Schools

Nicole Glentzer’s unseating of Michelle Hutchins came after a hard-fought campaign. Glentzer, hailing from inland Mendocino County, cultivated a significant social media presence at the beginning of the campaign documenting her work to make connections with educators across the county.

Hutchins would receive the endorsement of Mendocino County heavy-hitters former Sheriff Tom Allman and District Attorney David Eyster and speak proudly of her time as Superintendent where she, the first woman at the helm of MCOE, brought more women into the staff.

In the end, Glentzer won out with 55.35% of the vote leaving Hutchins with 44.65%.

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5th District Supervisor

This year’s race for 5th District Supervisor proved contentious with candidates rebuking each other’s political and policy decisions on social media and at campaign events. Ted Williams weaponized past social media statements made by Redding to call his platform and disposition into question. Redding criticized his opponent by often pointing toward what he deemed as an incompetent Board of Supervisors.

Incumbent Ted Williams overwhelmingly held onto his position garnering 82.52% of the votes while his challenger John Redding is walking away with 17.48%.

3rd District Supervisor

The race for 3rd District Supervisor this year was arguably the least contentious. Haschak navigated the election by speaking about his experience, knowledge, and accomplishments in his previous term. Romero proved a considerably more conservative candidate voicing his opposition to COVID-19 lockdowns and his support of taking a stronger stance towards homelessness.

Incumbent John Haschak received 71.72% of the votes. Clay Romero, Haschak’s challenger, received 28.28%.

Mendocino County Sheriff

It will be hard to forget this year’s race for Mendocino County Sheriff. Until two weeks before the election, Sheriff Matt Kendall was running unopposed.

Trent James, a former member of Mendocino County law enforcement turned YouTuber creating content revealing corruption in local cops, threw his name in the ring prompted by his supporters. James would fly to Mendocino County and begin a series of town halls around the county meeting with supporters describing his intentions to clean house and rid MCSO of perceived corruption.

In contrast, Sheriff Matt Kendall’s campaign was minimal hedging on his work over the previous term proving worthy of Mendocino County’s vote.

In the race for the Mendocino County Sheriff, incumbent Matt Kendall won handily with 85.52% of the vote while write-in candidate Trent James received 14.48% of the votes.

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