Race for West Sacramento mayoralty on razor’s edge and more Yolo County election results
In addition to local ballot measures across several cities, Election Day in Yolo County brought a few key electoral races into the spotlight, including the mayoralty of West Sacramento, which is still hotly contested. Here are the latest local election results as of 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, with most precincts in the county reporting.
West Sacramento Mayor
Mayor Christopher Cabaldon has managed to hold onto a slim margin Wednesday morning in an attempt to remain in office.
His challenger, councilwoman Martha Guerrero, has received 49.27% of the vote, with all eight precincts reporting. Cabaldon has received 50.73%.
Guerrero has garnered some impressive endorsements, which may have helped her odds against the longtime West Sacramento mayor. The Sacramento News and Review reported last month on her support from the Sacramento Central Labor Council as well as the Sacramento Area Fire Fighters Local 522 union.
Cabaldon told the News and Review that homophobia has impacted his support.
“In the spring of 2006, I came out of the closet,” Cabaldon told the newspaper in October. “Prior to that year, in 2004, 2002, 1998, 1996 and 1994, every single election before that, the police and fire unions and the labor council and the building trades, they were all strong backers of my election and then my reelection. And then in 2006, that all changed.”
The two candidates are split by less than 200 votes. Almost 12,000 ballots have been counted in the mayoral race.
West Sacramento City Council
Two seats are up for election on the West Sacramento’s City Council, and five candidates are in the running. Councilwoman Quirina Orozco is clearly in the lead, with 34.3% of the vote after all precincts were reporting. She is very likely to be reelected to her second term.
The contest for the second seat, however, is still very close. Norma Alcala, a trustee on the board of the Washington Unified School District, has a slight edge over Dawnte Early, who was supported by Mayor Cabaldon. Early, the chief of research and evaluation for California’s Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, has won 23.5% of counted votes, while Alcala has won 29.6%. Less than 100 votes stand between them as of Wednesday morning.
Yolo County Supervisor, District 4
The race for District 4 supervisor shows a clear lead for incumbent Jim Provenza. With 10 of the 12 precincts reporting results, Provenza has acquired 57.6% of the available votes. His opponent, Linda Deos, has received 42.4%.
Deos, a consumer protection attorney, previously launched an unsuccessful campaign for Davis City Council in 2018, and, according to the Davis Enterprise, had been planning on another attempt this year before changing course and vying for a seat on the Board of Supervisors. Provenza had actually supported her run for City Council, the Davis Enterprise reported.
Part of her reasoning behind running for supervisor was the fact that a woman has not appeared on the board since 2010. It is currently composed of five men, and if Yolo County’s early election results bear out as more precincts report, it may stay that way for a while. The difference in votes between Provenza and Deos is just shy of 2,000, a number that could narrow as more ballots are counted.
Measure A
Winters’ Measure A won by a wide margin on Election Day. The measure will limit urban development to a certain boundary and will begin a planning process for areas outside of those bounds. Votes in support account for 73% of the tallies and those opposed account for 27%. The measure was put on the ballot in response to concerns over a potential development in the north of town.
Measure B
The fate of Davis’ Measure B is still unclear. The measure would annex a 200-acre property to the city in order to develop what city leaders touted as the “Davis Innovation and Sustainability Campus,” a large mixed-use site to include retail and housing. Despite several big supporters, such as the Yolo County Democratic Party, the Davis Downtown Business Association and the Davis Chamber of Commerce, the “nos” seem to be leading the vote so far. With 11 of 12 precincts reporting results, 52% are against the measure and 47.8% are for it. Opponents voiced concerns about traffic impacts of the site.
Measure D
Although one precinct has yet to return election results on Measure D, voter support for it has been overwhelmingly positive. The measure is winning with 83% of the vote, while nearly 17% rejected it. The measure is set to extend the expiration of Measure J, passed in 2000, by 10 years. Measure J required voter approval for any city development of open space and agricultural lands. Measure R, passed in 2010, was a similar measure that extended Measure J 10 years after it was initially implemented.
Measures R-V
These five Woodland city measures pertain to different areas of government but all passed with comfortable margins and full precinct reportage. Measure R extended a .25% general fund sales tax previously adopted in 2014 for 10 more years, leaving the overall sales tax rate at 8% through 2030. “Yes” votes account for 65% of all ballots counted. City officials say it will continue to bring in $2.8 million per year.
Measures S through V differ from Measure R in that they are merely advisory votes. No binding action is required, even though they all performed well at the polls and follow a similar theme. Measure S proposed that 25% of funds generated by the sales tax extended in Measure R be allocated to the Woodland Public Library. That’s an estimated $700,000 in funding annually.
Measure T would allocate 55% of the sales tax funds toward youth programs and recreation facilities, an estimated $1.54 million per year. Measure U would allocate 15% of those funds toward public safety, crime prevention and youth development programs, or about $420,000 annually.
Measure V would allocate 5% of those funds toward a utility payment assistance program for low-income seniors and families, or about $140,000 annually. General fund dollars are not earmarked for any particular purpose. All four of these measures passed with 60% or greater support.
