Four candidates are vying for three seats on the Felton Fire Protection District Board of Directors. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/CatchLight Local file)
Felton Fire Protection District, Director (vote for 2)
Candidate Total CRAIG WINTER 971 (43.16%) NORMAN CRANDELL 634 (28.18%) JAMES ANDERSON 469 (20.84%) BILL FINLAYSON 152 (6.76%) Unqualified Write In 1 19 (0.84%) Unqualified Write In 2 5 (0.22%)
San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District, Trustee Area 4 (vote for 1)
Candidate Total ASHLEIGH HOPKINS 1,561 (29.63%) GAIL D LEVINE 3,676 (69.77%) Unqualified Write In 32 (0.61%)
SAN LORENZO VALLEY >> Craig Winter and Norm Crandall had substantial leads for two seats on the Felton Fire Prevention District Board of Directors in early vote counts 8:15 p.m. Tuesday. Longtime director Jim Anderson trailed.
In the race for Area 4 of the San Lorenzo Valley School Board, incumbent Gail Levine had a firm lead over challenger Ashleigh Hopkins.
Vote tallies will continue to be updated throughout the night and in the coming days. Final election results must be certified by Dec. 3.
Voters cast their ballots in Felton on Nov. 3. (Amaya Edwards — Santa Cruz Local/Report for America)
Felton Fire Protection District
The Felton Fire Board of Directors approve the district’s budget, hire the chief, and shape other district policies.
All three candidates currently sit on the board. Crandall has held a seat since 2021, and Anderson since 1999. Craig Winter was appointed to a seat in 2025. Rather than run to finish out the rest of the term in a two-year seat, he challenged Crandall and Anderson in hopes of winning a four-year seat. Rich Alter, the sole candidate to run for the two-year seat, is expected to join the board in January.
San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District
Trustees for the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District approve the budget, hire the superintendent, and help shape policies on curriculum, discipline and other matters.
Levine has held the Area 4 seat since 2016. Hopkins challenged her in part over concerns related to LGBTQ+ content in schools.
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Jesse Kathan is a staff reporter for Santa Cruz Local. They hold a master's degree in science communications from UC Santa Cruz.
As government accountability reporter, Erika Zaro brings in-depth, enterprise reporting on local institutions that affect residents’ everyday lives. Her stories examine major government decisions, track the promises of elected officials and investigate wrongdoing.
