The June primary election includes races for Santa Cruz Mayor, Santa Cruz City Council and Santa Cruz County Supervisor. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local file/CatchLight Local)

SANTA CRUZ >> Hours before the filing deadline passed to run for Santa Cruz City Council, a new candidate entered the race — UC Santa Cruz student Gabriella Noack, who seeks to unseat Councilmember Renée Golder. California’s primary election is set for June 2.

Golder and Noack are vying to represent District 6 of Santa Cruz, which includes lower Westside and part of the UCSC campus. Golder has represented the district since April 2020, when she replaced former councilmember Drew Glover as part of a recall.

Noack, a former Cabrillo College student, said she will graduate UCSC in June with a double major in sociology and philosophy, and a concentration in digital justice studies. As a student, she taught a technology education course at a Santa Cruz County Jail facility in Watsonville, and is now leading a tech education program at nonprofit Barrios Unidos for people exiting incarceration, she said.

If elected, Noack said, she’ll work to bring in more deeply affordable housing for low-income residents.

Most below-market-rate housing is “still not by any means affordable for the average worker in Santa Cruz,” she said.

Noack also opposes “six-story buildings of luxury apartments all over Santa Cruz when we don’t have the infrastructure” to support it, like sufficient public transportation. 

“I didn’t feel represented by Renée Golder and nobody else was running against her, so I felt the responsibility to stand up and represent my own voting interest and the voting interests of my neighbors,” she said.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, filing is closed for the Santa Cruz City Council and Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors races. 

Another candidate for mayor

Real estate agent Susan Andre began the process of declaring candidacy on Friday. Because incumbent Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley is not running for reelection, prospective mayoral candidates have until March 11 to file.

Andre brings the field of candidates to six. Her prospective opponents so far are:

• Ami Chen Mills, former candidate for the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors who lost the race in 2022, and organizer with Get the Flock Out.
• Chris Krohn, former Santa Cruz City Council member and mayor who was recalled in 2020 following allegations of bullying and criticism of his homelessness policies. 
• Environmental activist Gillian Greensite, who has opposed large housing developments Downtown and in 2020 was part of a group that sued the city over plans for the Santa Cruz Wharf.
• Joy Schendledecker, community organizer and former candidate for mayor and city council who lost the races in 2022 and 2024.
• Longtime politician Ryan Coonerty, who has secured endorsements from all sitting members of the city council and the mayor.

If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in June, the top two contenders will face off in the November general election. 

Other updates

• Greg Hyver has dropped his bid for the District 4 Santa Cruz City Council seat, said City Clerk Bonnie Bush. The race is now between incumbent Scott Newsome and community organizer and former city council candidate Hector Marin. The district includes Downtown and part of the upper Westside.
• District 3 incumbent Justin Cummings has secured another term on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, with no candidates filing to challenge him. Cummings represents much of Santa Cruz and the North Coast 
• The final candidates for District 5 supervisor are incumbent Supervisor Felipe Hernandez, local nonprofit leader and former journalist Tony Nuñez, and longtime community advocate Elias Gonzales. If no candidate wins a majority of the votes in June, the race will go to a November runoff.

In the coming months, Santa Cruz Local will conduct in-depth interviews about incumbents’ records and candidates’ positions. Our voting guides are based on the Peoples’ Agenda, a list of local issues residents most want candidates to address. 

Tell us what we should ask candidates using the form below, or email us at [email protected].

Questions or comments? Email [email protected]. Santa Cruz Local is supported by members, major donors, sponsors and grants for the general support of our newsroom. Our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support. Learn more about Santa Cruz Local and how we are funded.