Two Watsonville City Council races remained too close to call Tuesday night, with incumbent Casey Clark holding a narrow lead in District 5 and Ed Acosta ahead of former Councilwoman Nancy Bilicich in District 7.
Santa Cruz County election results posted at 10:25pm showed Clark with 51.4% of the vote, compared to 47.5% for challenger Ángel Zúñiga, a political newcomer and operations manager.
The winner of the District 5 race will serve as Watsonville’s mayor in 2027 under the city’s rotating mayoral system.
In District 7, Acosta, a Santa Cruz County Board of Education trustee, had garnered 52.5% of the vote, compared to 47.2% for Bilicich.
At an election-night gathering in the Watsonville Elk’s Lodge for Clark and Acosta, supporters celebrated the early results, although both races remained undecided.
Clark thanked his supporters and reflected on his four years on the council, saying that despite differences among its members, they have worked together to move the city forward.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world today, nationally, and across just the globe,” Clark said. “And we cannot control that. But we can control our own city. We can control our own neighborhoods and our own backyards.”
Clark said the council has managed to work together despite its members’ differing personalities.
“When I got onto council, when you look at our personalities individually, we have the perfect recipe to be the most outrageous, dysfunctional council in the city ever,” he said. “But somehow we held it together.”
Clark said those differences have not prevented council members from putting the city’s interests first.
Labor representative and business agent Casey Van Den Heuvel, who spoke at the gathering, praised both candidates for their willingness to run for office and thanked the labor organizations and community members who supported their campaigns.
“I’m excited to see where this council goes,” Van Den Heuvel said. “And I’m excited to see where you guys take it.”
Van Den Heuvel also praised Acosta for his grassroots campaign, particularly his efforts to reach voters by knocking on doors throughout his district.
Acosta told supporters that walking neighborhoods and speaking directly with residents had been central to his campaign.
“I called the grassroots campaign going out and walking,” he said. “That was what I was about from day one.”
Acosta showed supporters a map he had used to track his door-to-door campaigning, highlighting each street after walking it.
He said the effort kept him away from family gatherings and often brought him home after dark, but gave him opportunities to hear directly from residents.
Some conversations were difficult, he said, particularly with people who did not know him or questioned what he could accomplish in office.
“One of the big things for me was I cannot promise anybody anything,” Acosta said. “That’s the last thing I’m going to do is promise you something I can’t deliver.”
Instead, he said, he would focus on listening to residents and trying to address their concerns.
“I can tell you one thing I could do is I can listen to you and I can try to help,” he said.
Meanwhile, Councilmembers Maria Orozco and Kristal Salcido, representing Districts 3 and 4, respectively, faced no opponents on the ballot.
This story will be updated.
