Editor’s note: These results are unofficial and many ballots are yet to be counted. We’re expecting another update from the county elections office Friday. Jump to other Santa Cruz County election results here.
SANTA CRUZ >> Santa Cruz City Councilmembers Drew Glover and Chris Krohn will be removed from office, according to unofficial election results with all precincts reported early Wednesday.
A county tally showed 56.5% of votes in favor of the removal of Glover and 54.3% in favor of Krohn’s removal.
More than 50% of the vote was needed to recall each council member from office. The unofficial results, as of 2:23 a.m. Wednesday, show all precincts reporting, according to the county elections website. The elections office has not finished counting vote-by-mail, provisional and same-day registration ballots. The election will be certified by March 31.
In the race to replace Councilmember Glover, Renee Golder led with 60.7% percent of the vote to former Mayor Tim Fitzmaurice’s 37.5%. The top vote getter would replace Glover if he is recalled. The term for Glover, 34, ends in December 2022.
In the race to replace Councilmember Krohn, Katherine Beiers led with 54.1% of the vote to Don Lane’s 43.9%. The term for Krohn, 62, ends in December.
Controversial votes on homeless policies helped spark the recall efforts in 2019. Recall organizers have said they disagreed with Krohn and Glover’s votes to keep open the unsanctioned homeless camp near Highway 1 and River Street. Recall supporters also disapproved of a proposal to allow overnight RV parking on Delaware Avenue.
Krohn’s alleged verbal mistreatment of a city staff member at a city council meeting and Glover’s salty exchange with Councilmember Donna Meyers about a meeting room schedule also became talking points among recall supporters.
Recall opponents have said that Glover and Krohn are needed on the council in part to push for 100% affordable housing projects and increased homeless services.
County Supervisor races
In early voting returns, District 2 Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zach Friend led challenger Becky Steinbruner 68% to 31.5%. The winner needs more than 50% of the vote.
In the crowded District 1 Santa Cruz County Supervisor race, incumbent John Leopold led newcomer Manu Koenig with 45.8% to 29.3% of the vote. Mark Esquibel captured 10.7% of the vote. Betsy Riker, Benjamin Cogan and Donald Kreutz all had less than 6% of the early vote. Fifty percent of the vote is needed to avoid a runoff among the top two candidates in November.
Tuesday afternoon, Santa Cruz County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Gail Pellerin dropped by the Harvey West Clubhouse and Scouthouse polling place. Pellerin said that new voting machines were working well.
County leaders also placed a dozen ballot drop boxes outside libraries and other places for voters to drop off ballots. Pellerin said the boxes were well used. Voter service centers also were open for a few days before election day for the first time.
“So far, so good,” Pellerin said at about 3:45 p.m. “I think we’ve got good traffic at our polls and our voter service centers.”
Polls were particularly busy at UC Santa Cruz, Pellerin said.
Some polling stations at UCSC had lines of more than an hour to get a ballot. Many were first-time voters. “There’s a lot of voters up there,” Pellerin said. “I know there’s a line. We’re offering that they can leave their application and then go away for two hours and come back and get their ballot. Or they can opt to wait in line and get it.”
Cabrillo College Measure R
A 32-year parcel tax to help fund Cabrillo College remained shy of the 55% it needed to pass Tuesday night. The “Yes” vote received 50.3% of the vote to the “No” vote’s 49.7%.
Bond sales would raise about $17 million annually to update laboratories, classrooms, and other infrastructure on campus.
It would tax homeowners $19 per $100,000 of assessed value on their homes. Opponents have pointed out that the tax would add to two other Cabrillo College taxes already on tax rolls. Another Cabrillo bond measure failed in 2016.
Supporters have said more than half of Santa Cruz County high school graduates attend Cabrillo College. Although overall enrollment has declined in recent years, there are crowded programs in nursing and technical medical fields in part because of lack of facilities, supporters have said.
Santa Cruz County Superior Judge race
In the judge’s race for Santa Cruz County Superior Court, Nancy de la Peña held a lead of 43.5% to Annrae Angel’s 28.9% to Jack Gordon’s 26.9% of the vote.
De la Peña was a 30-year criminal defense attorney and is now assistant counsel for Santa Cruz County. Angel and Gordon are defense attorneys.
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Local election results
Should Santa Cruz City Councilmember Drew Glover be removed from office? – needs majority vote to pass
| Yes | 7,250 | 56.47% |
| No | 5,589 | 43.53% |
Which candidate should replace Glover, should he be removed from office?
| Renee Golder | 7,085 | 60.70% |
| Tim Fitzmaurice | 4,378 | 37.51% |
Should Santa Cruz City Councilmember Chris Krohn be removed from office? – needs majority vote to pass
| Yes | 6,910 | 54.30% |
| No | 5,815 | 45.70% |
Who should replace Krohn, if he’s removed from office?
| Katherine Beiers | 6,190 | 54.06% |
| Don Lane | 5,027 | 43.90% |
Measure R – Cabrillo College bond – needs 55% to pass
| No | 25,778 | 49.71% |
| Yes | 26,078 | 50.29% |
Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge
| Nancy de la Peña | 19,992 | 43.48% |
| Jack Gordon | 12,381 | 26.93% |
| Annrae Angel | 13,305 | 28.94% |
State assemblymember, 29th district
| Incumbent Mark Stone (D) | 35,649 | 77.78% |
| Shomir Banerjee (R) | 10,038 | 21.90% |
State assemblymember, 30th district
| Incumbent Robert Rivas (D) | 4,453 | 75.55% |
| Gregory Swett (R) | 1,427 | 24.21% |
State senator, 17th district
| John Laird (D) | 29,666 | 56.92% |
| Vicki Nohrden (R) | 11,046 | 21.20% |
| Maria Cadenas (D) | 9,686 | 18.59% |
| John Nevill (D) | 1,608 | 3.09% |
U.S. Representative of Congress, 18th Congressional District
| Incumbent Anna Eshoo (D) | 7,237 | 58.16% |
| Richard B. Fox (R) | 1,498 | 12.04% |
| Rishi Kumar (R) | 1,845 | 14.83% |
| Phil Reynolds (R) | 1,469 | 11.81% |
| Bob Goodwyn (Libertarian) | 367 | 2.95% |
U.S. Representative of Congress, 20th Congressional District
| Incumbent Jimmy Panetta (D) | 27,121 | 65.73% |
| Jeff Gorman (R) | 7,043 | 17.07% |
| Adam Bolaños Scow (D) | 7,042 | 17.07% |
Measure S: San Lorenzo Valley School District bond – needs 55% to pass
| No | 2,836 | 47.25% |
| Yes | 3,166 | 52.75% |
Measure T: Santa Cruz High School District parcel tax (needs 66.66% to pass)
| Yes | 18,455 | 70.36% |
| No | 7,773 | 29.64% |
Measure U: Santa Cruz Elementary School District parcel tax (needs 66.66% to pass)
| Yes | 10,319 | 76.64% |
| No | 3,146 | 23.36% |
Measure V: Soquel School District parcel tax (needs 66.66% to pass)
| Yes | 3,862 | 60.52% |
| No | 2,519 | 39.48% |
Measure W: Santa Cruz City Contracts for Public Works (Majority vote needed to pass)
| Yes | 9,413 | 79.56% |
| No | 2,418 | 20.44% |
Measure X: Santa Cruz City Schools district elections (needs majority vote to pass)
| Yes | 8,502 | 76.60% |
| No | 2,597 | 23.40% |
Measure Y: Watsonville sales tax for public safety
| Yes | 3,039 | 76.22% |
| No | 948 | 23.78% |
Check out our “Vote March 3” series about the local elections.
We interviewed more than 200 voters across the county and asked them what they wanted the candidates to talk about. Then we interviewed Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and Santa Cruz City Council candidates based on what we heard.
- Part 1: Voting in Santa Cruz County 101 (Jan. 8, 2020)
- Part 2: The People’s Agenda (Jan. 30, 2020)
- Part 3: The District 2 supervisor race (Feb. 3, 2020)
- Part 4: The District 1 supervisor race (Feb. 6, 2020)
- Part 5: Santa Cruz City Council recall, Drew Glover’s seat (Feb. 9, 2020)
- Part 6: Santa Cruz City Council recall, Chris Krohn’s seat (Feb. 10, 2020)
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the length of the proposed Cabrillo College parcel tax.
Stephen Baxter is a co-founder and editor of Santa Cruz Local. He covers Santa Cruz County government.
Kara Meyberg Guzman is the CEO and co-founder of Santa Cruz Local. Prior to Santa Cruz Local, she served as the Santa Cruz Sentinel’s managing editor. She has a biology degree from Stanford University and lives in Santa Cruz.
