Friday, December 6, 2024

Election 2024: Voter turnout, tight races, and early results in Mendocino County

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Elections Voting Ballot Box
[This stock imaged was taken by Matt LaFever]

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%.

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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 did pass did not pass with 57.6% of the vote (314 votes in favor) compared to 42.4% (231 votes) opposed. Passing required 66.67% of voter support.

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.

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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.

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29 COMMENTS

  1. I miss Ralph Nader and Winona and everything they symbolized.

    I remain fascinated by the number of people who don’t vote anymore. Myself included. This in itself is a vote. It just goes to show we are under represented by politics, that we aren’t “the public”, that we no longer believe there are only 2 choices.

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  2. What a pathetic turnout of voters for an important election! It’s embarrassing the lack of voting by registered voters. I have voted in every election since I was 18. I realize people are unhappy with the choices in this election but you need to vote. Our country has been divided for years, it’s time to start listening to each other. United we stand, divided we fall.

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    • We hope the future will be bright every time we vote for president. Unfortunately, the people seem to get let down by whomever the president is because of the way government operates. So much bureaucratic BS that not much gets done. Washington doesn’t work well, never has. Let’s pray for the future, time will tell.

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    • Senate, House, Presidency sweep, democracy works!!!!!!!
      Supreme Court to fill with constitutionalism primed judges next.
      Stock market roared ahead. Iran’s dinar falling rapidly on world market. No taxes on tips. Taxes to stay low or lower. Tariffs to pay down debt and create factories in the USA. War loving Neo Cons to be given the boot (Bye Liz)

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      • It is evident by your statement that you are misinformed about tariffs. Do your research! It will create inflation not reduce debt. Tariffs are not funneled through government.

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  3. When I saw the low turnout of eligible voters in this county, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Someone please explain to me how nearly 3/4 of registered voters didn’t bother to vote.
    Mendofever, do you have your facts right? You show that Measure S passed with 57.6% of the vote. My understanding is that it needed 67% to pass. Which number is correct?

    • I don’t vote because on a metaphysical level these candidates don’t represent me, and on a tangible level the 2 party system (the 2 parties being ‘old’ and ‘man’) have never represented me. I don’t care for pussy grabbers or pussy waggers either, at least not for president.

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      • Good thing that those who constantly worked for equal rights amendments, or women’s right to vote, etc.,didn’t cop your bad attitude and sense of entitlement and pampered expectations. A democratic Republic is a gift which requires participation. It’s an ongoing, neverending responsibility and opportunity granted to each one of us for shaping our lives.

      • No, very obviously, he does not.
        Is just irrationally regurgitating partisan propagandist’s bold faced lies and manipulations, i.e. gaslit.

        Boogeyman politics funded by billionaires that intentionally dis- and mis-inform the masses, who can’t be bothered by facts and are incapable of and/or unwilling to study, much less verify anything they hear.
        I.e. Some of Putin’s best American friends, right here in little ol Mendo..

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        • Hint:
          Marxism is the original form of “modern” communism.
          There are exactly 5 communist nations on the planet, 4 of them are considered Marxist-Leninist.
          China
          Laos
          Vietnam
          Cuba
          &
          N Korea

          Check the facts folks.
          Communism means an end to private property & money, social class, & the state.

          Attributing communism, in any form, to the democratic party is pure deviant propaganda and a bullshit McCarthy-ist lie, period.

          How many US politicians has anyone ever heard say that they intend to seize and nationalize for the proletariat even 1 privately held business, much less all of them?

          Hint: a number that equals null

          Politicized Lies are the antithesis to any civil discourse.

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    • This is really fascinating to me. I know my personal reasons for not voting, I’m really curious as to everyone else’s? Is it finding time in your busy day? How is voting day not a holiday still? Is it lack a belief that voting is real? Is it Anarchy in its purest form? Lack of choices in a 2 party system?
      Let’s hash!!

  4. These are Election Night Only results, our Final Election Certification won’t happen until December 3rd, 2024 (see AB 3184 for information). We will post weekly updates until we are done. We have a HUGE amount (maybe 15,000 – 20,000) of ballots that were mailed or dropped off on Election Day to process – the turnout mentioned in this article is a preliminary number for the ballots that were tabulated by Election night.

    • A whole month to count 10 or 20 thousand ballots? Mendocino County continues to out-do itself in the departments of pathetic excuses and glaring incompetence.

      Remember, only a few years ago we had our certified results on election night.

      The entire county election apparatus should be scrapped. Give us voter ID and return to in-person voting.

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    • Thank you, Katrina, for trying to clarify this. Since you wrote this, your office released an estimate of the TOTAL number of ballots (36936), which would yield a TOTAL turnout of over 67%.

  5. Hell I’m going to be 70 in his next year as I can’t even get the hotels or motels to give me a senior discount …looking to leave mendocio county in particular but sadder still is Mendocino has a high if not one of the highest tax rates in the state…and I’m a California daughter born and raised in norther callie

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Matt LaFever
Matt LaFeverhttps://mendofever.com/
For the past seven years, Matt LaFever has covered the North Coast of California in both print and radio news. A Humboldt State graduate, he has lived in the Emerald Triangle for nearly 20 years. His reporting spans local issues like crime and wildfires. When not writing, Matt is an avid outdoorsman, exploring Northern California’s rugged landscapes. Reach out to him at matthewplafever@gmail.com.

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