Election results posted Tuesday show that Tony Nuñez has maintained his sizable lead in the race for the District 4 seat on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors.
Nuñez has received 3,930 votes, or 50.1% of the total, while incumbent Felipe Hernandez has received 2,417 votes, or 30.79%.
Challenger Elias Gonzalez has received 1,443 votes, or 18.35%.
A total of 54 votes were cast for write-in candidates.
Nuñez said he remains “cautiously optimistic” about his single-digit margin.
If that falls below the 50% simple majority, it will mean a runoff election against Hernandez in November.
“It’s not over until it’s over,” he said. “You run through the finish line, you run through the tape.”
He also credited voters and campaign supporters.
“More than anything right now, I’m just grateful for the support that we’ve received up until this moment,” he said. “Grateful for all of the conversations that I’ve had so far on the campaign trail.”
Nuñez said he hopes to begin preparing for office as soon as possible.
“Right now, I would love to be able to get to work immediately and start to plan out and meet with people and get a lay of the land for District 4 in a way that will really get me ready to get started in January 2027,” he said.
Those percentages have changed little since election night, when Nuñez took a commanding 49% of the vote, just shy of the simple majority needed to win the election outright.
There are an estimated 365 ballots left to count, according to the Santa Cruz County Clerk’s Office.
The next batch of results was scheduled to be released June 18, with final results expected June 26, County Clerk Tricia Webber said.
Webber predicted that more than 50% of the county’s registered voters cast ballots, which she said would be the highest turnout for a primary election since 2002.
District 4 encompasses much of South Santa Cruz County, including a large portion of Watsonville.
District 3 Supervisor Justin Cummings ran unopposed.
In Santa Cruz, Ryan Coonerty opened election night with more than 50% of the vote in his bid for mayor. However, his share has since fallen below that threshold, placing him on track for a November runoff against second-place finisher Ami Chen Mills.
As of Tuesday, Coonerty had 9,251 votes, or 47.89%, while Chen Mills had 20.44%.
