(Salvador Zarate (right) gets help from Daniel Robins in casting his votes Tuesday in the Watsonville Civic Plaza Community Room. Photo by Tarmo Hannula/Pajaronian)
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Santa Cruz County Supervisor, District 4
With 3,424 votes counted in the Santa Cruz County Fourth District Supervisor race at 1:03 a.m., incumbent Greg Caput was leading the pack of five candidates with 33.12 percent of the votes.
Caput’s closest challenger Jimmy Dutra has so far garnered just over 26.3 percent.
Felipe Hernandez is in third, followed by Nancy Bilicich with 22 and 13.32 percent, respectively. Leticia Mendoza was fifth with 4.85 percent.
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Watsonville City Council, District 2
Aurelio Gonzalez took a slight lead in the race for the District 2 seat on the Watsonville City Council, early election results showed.
As of 1:03 a.m., Gonzalez led Jenni Veitch-Olson by 29 votes. So far, 258 votes have been counted.
The District 2 seat covers Watsonville High School, parts of downtown and streets surrounding Palm Avenue to the northeast.
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California State Assembly, District 30
Robert Rivas took an early lead in the five-person race for the State Assembly District 30 seat.
Rivas, a Democrat and San Benito County supervisor, netted 44.4 percent of the vote as of 9:07 a.m. Republican Neil G. Kitchens of Prunedale currently sits in second place at 31.3 percent.
Watsonville City Councilwoman Trina Coffman-Gomez, the only candidate from Watsonville, was third in voting across the district at 7.7 percent, or 2,524 votes, early results showed.
Rounding out the race are Peter Leroe-Muñoz with 10.4 percent of the vote, and Bill Lipe with 6.1 percent.
District 30 consists of Watsonville, Southern Monterey County, San Benito County, Gilroy and Morgan Hill.
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Monterey County Supervisor, District 2
As of 12:29 a.m., John Phillips is leading in the race for District 2 Monterey County Supervisor.
The incumbent leads challenger Regina Gage with 55 percent of the vote, according to early election results.
The seat represents North Monterey County, including Pajaro, Royal Oaks, Moss Landing and parts of Aromas.
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Governor
Gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom was far outpacing his 26 opponents, with 53.4 percent of the vote. Newsom’s closest rival is Republican John Cox, with just over 12 percent.
Democrat Eleni Kounalakis was leading the pack of lieutenant governor candidates with 34 percent of the vote.
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State Senate
Incumbent Senator Diane Feinstein was far outpacing challenger Kevin De Leon, so far carrying the race with 42.9 percent of the vote, according to statewide election results.
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U.S. House of Representatives, 20th District
Congressman Jimmy Panetta looks poised to hold on to his seat, with more than 82.4 percent of the vote. Ronald Kabat was trailing with 13.3 percent.
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Propositions
Californians appear to have approved Proposition 68, which would authorize the state to sell $4 billion in general obligation bonds. Supporters say the funds would pay for projects that protect water supplies and quality, repair and upgrade parks and protect natural resources. The money would also be used for flood protection.
As of 10 p.m., the measure had garnered 55 percent of the vote.
Proposition 69 rocketed ahead, with more than 82 percent voting yes. That law will restrict money raised by the state’s new gas tax to be used only on transportation-related projects.
More than 60 percent of voters have rejected Proposition 70, which would require a supermajority two-thirds vote by lawmakers to reauthorize how money from the state’s cap-and-trade program is spent.
Voters also appear to have approved Proposition 70, which would standardize when ballot measures go into effect, and 72, which prohibits the state from reassessing properties whose owners add rainwater capture systems.
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WATSONVILLE — Voters throughout the county headed to the polls Tuesday, helping to choose a governor and vice-governor, elect local leaders and decide on a handful of ballot propositions.
Poll workers were predicting a low turnout, as is typical for a primary election.
On the sixth floor of Watsonville Civic Plaza, only about 20 people had cast paper ballots, while another 30 voters had their say with electronic voting machines by 11 a.m.
Those numbers do not paint a complete picture of the numbers that would hit the polls on voting day, said polling station inspector Sharon Spence.
That is because about three-quarters of voters do so by mail, she said.
Still, Spence said that she has enjoyed working the polling stations for the past three elections.
“The first year I found that I loved seeing the faces of first-time voters, whether it was young folk or older Hispanic voters, who realize they were able to make a difference,” she said.
Tuesday was the first time in Santa Cruz County that residents could register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day, Spence said.
