With all precincts reporting in the 2024 Presidential General Election, voter turnout in Mendocino County reached 28.57%, with 15,611 out of 54,640 registered voters casting ballots. Local contests included races for city council seats across Fort Bragg, Point Arena, Ukiah, and Willits, along with key school board positions and several county measures. These unofficial results, released shortly before midnight, are subject to change as final tallies are certified in the coming days
City Government
In the City of Fort Bragg City Council election, two seats were available. Lindy Peters led with 530 votes, or 32.3%, followed by Scott Hockett, who received 373 votes (22.8%). Ryan Bushnell earned 285 votes (17.4%), Bethany Brewer secured 272 votes (16.6%), and Mel Salazar received 179 votes (10.9%).
In Point Arena, voters selected three candidates to fill all three seats on the City Council. Dan Doyle led with 47 votes (39.2%), followed by Jim Koogle with 43 votes (35.8%), and Jeffery Hansen with 30 votes (25.0%).
In the Ukiah City Council race, two seats were open. Heather Criss was the top vote-getter with 1,009 votes (26.3%), closely followed by Douglas F. Crane with 969 votes (25.2%). Josefina Duenas earned 559 votes (14.6%), John Strangio received 545 votes (14.2%), Jacob S. Brown had 429 votes (11.2%), and Kristina Mize garnered 330 votes (8.6%). In an uncontested race for City Treasurer, R. Allen Carter received all 1,774 votes cast, giving him 100% of the total.
For the City Council race in Willits, three seats were open. The top vote recipients were Thomas D. Allman, with 501 votes (28.9%), Gerardo “Gerry” Gonzalez with 498 votes (28.7%), and Robin Leler with 302 votes (17.4%). Following were Matthew Alaniz with 289 votes (16.7%), Saprina Rodriguez with 138 votes (8.0%), and write-in candidate Bradley Thomas with 8 votes (0.5%).
The Covelo Fire Protection District saw five candidates competing for director positions. Lindon A. Duke received 28.4% of the 384 votes, followed by Leanne G. Durham with 23.96%. Edward Wilson secured 18.49%, Cindy Nelson received 15.1%, and Bryant Earl Hale rounded out the count with 14.06%.
In the Mendocino Coast Health Care District election, four candidates ran for one director position. Lynn Finley led with 44.56% of the 5,768 ballots cast, followed by Paul Katzeff with 28.42%. Mikael Blaisdell received 15.41%, and Gabriel Quinn Maroney garnered 11.62%.
Education Governance
Michelle Hutchins won the seat on the Mendocino County Board of Education, capturing 59.2% of the vote with 1,377 ballots, defeating David R. Strock, who received 40.8% with 949 votes.
In the Mendocino-Lake Community College District for Trustee Area 3, Jay Epstein emerged victorious with 78.3% of the vote (1,815 ballots), while Gabriel Baca Meza received 21.7%, totaling 504 votes.
For the Fort Bragg Unified School District Governing Board, two seats were open. Kathy Babcock led with 45.8% of the vote (1,567 votes), followed by Sage Statham with 29.1% (996 votes). Cristal Munoz received 25.1%, totaling 859 votes.
Two seats were also open for the Round Valley Unified School District Governing Board. Zoe George led with 41.5% (140 votes), followed by Steve McCormack with 39.8% (134 votes). Cindy Nelson received 18.7% (63 votes).
In the Ukiah Unified School District, John Bailey narrowly won the Trustee Area 5 seat, receiving 50.6% of the vote (480 ballots) over Jaimie Jacobsen, who earned 49.4% with 468 votes.
For the Willits Unified School District Governing Board, April Lamprich led with 1,099 votes (40.2%) for one of two available seats. David Lilker followed with 873 votes (32.0%), while Dianne M. McNeal received 759 votes (27.8%).
Local Measures
Measure S proposed to establish a uniform rate schedule for a special fire and rescue tax in the Albion-Little River Fire Protection District to support enhanced fire services. It passed with 57.6% of the vote (314 votes in favor) compared to 42.4% (231 votes) opposed.
Measure T sought to add a new transactions and use tax in Fort Bragg, managed by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. The tax is intended to raise funds for city services and projects. It passed with 70.9% of the vote, receiving 675 votes in favor and 277 votes against.
Measure X proposed to add a 2% tax on transient occupancies (including hotels and rentals) in Fort Bragg. The measure aims to boost revenue through visitor lodging taxes to fund city initiatives. The measure passed with 79.7% support, totaling 731 votes, while 186 voters opposed it.
Measure V proposed a special parcel tax for the Ukiah Valley Fire District. This tax is designed to provide additional funding for fire services in the region. It was approved with 62.7% of the vote, totaling 2,787 in favor and 1,660 votes against.
Measure W, which proposed increasing Ukiah’s transient occupancy tax from 10% to 13% for guests of hotels, motels, and vacation rentals, failed to pass. It received 45.4% in favor, with 1,110 votes, while 1,335 votes (54.6%) were cast against it.
Measure X in Point Arena proposed a transactions and use tax to fund city initiatives. Consolidated with other elections on the same date, it passed with 74.3% approval, totaling 52 votes in favor and 18 votes (25.7%) against.
