Eriberto Estrada, who graduated from Pajaro Valley High School this year, holds a commanding lead over incumbent Daniel Dodge in the race for Pajaro Valley Unified school board area 4 trustee.
As of 10:25pm on Tuesday, Estrada had 65.9% of the vote, with 833 votes, with Dodge trailing with 425.
Tuesday night, at a watch party hosted by Estrada at Jalisco’s Restaurant on Main Street, the air was filled with joy and laughter. Estrada made his way around the room receiving embraces and congratulations from family and community members involved in his campaign.
“The community supported me throughout this entire campaign, and now they came out and they voted for me,” he said. “I just want to give a huge thank you to all the families in district area 4, and to every single person who supported me throughout this entire campaign.”
The 18-year-old Watsonville resident put together a grassroots movement in only seven months, and he’s got a packed schedule ahead of him. He just started college classes at Cal State Monterey Bay, majoring in liberal studies to one day work as an educator in the Pajaro Valley. He says balancing his new position on the school board with college responsibilities will be a challenge, but one that he is up for.
“I’ve been very careful on how I’ve picked my classes and very careful on how I picked my work schedule,” Estrada said. “That’s so I can ultimately be as present—physically and mentally—as possible at the board meetings.”
Running a local campaign has not been completely smooth sailing. Estrada expressed disappointment over a number of hostile comments made on his social media pages.
Last week, his opponent, trustee Daniel Dodge Jr., left the dais during a board meeting, photographed three teachers in the audience and posted the image on Facebook, accusing them of engaging in “shady tactics” in his reelection campaign.
Beyond the celebratory mood of the evening, Estrada says he’s looking forward to doing the work.
“I’m overjoyed by the idea of working with all the teachers and students, sitting on that board and voicing the community’s concerns,” he said. “That to me is the most exciting thing in the world.”
