In the middle of the nationwide election races, Sonoma County also finished off their elections. The Democratic party had a wave of victories, winning every representative seat.
As of Friday night, the ballots were still flying in. The Argus Courier said they believed that they had a little more than 40,000 more ballots to count before it is all said and done. The ballot counters are counting about 25,000 ballots per day.
The Sonoma County elections are very important because they directly impact our community. These elected officials will make decisions on housing plans, COVID-19 issues, homeless issues, and much more.
District 2 in the U.S. House of Representatives democratic nominee, Jared Huffman had won. District 5 of the US House of Representatives democratic nominee, Mike Thompson had won.
Rohnert Park elected three different council members. Those being Walter “Willy” Linares in area one, Gerard Giudice in area three, and finally Jackie Elward in area four. Linares and Giudice both won with a strong showing, and Elward won by a slimmer margin of only 300 votes. Cotati also added three new council members: Laura Sparks, Susan Harvey, and Ben Ford–who all won by a narrow margin.
Santa Rosa also elected council member Eddie Alverez in area one. Chris Rogers and Natalie Rogers both won area’s five and seven with Harrison “Jack” Tibetts beating his opponent by an unprecedented amount. A total of 9,901 votes were counted in area three and Tibetts received 9,888 votes.
Finally Petaluma added Brian Barnacle, Dennis Pocekay, and Mike Healy. An article in the Argus Courier said, “In Petaluma’s at-large election, while challengers Brian Barnacle and Dennis Pocekay were poised to win seats, three other candidates vying for the city’s third seat were nearly deadlocked. As of Friday evening, Councilman Mike Healy had about 13.4% of the vote, Lizzie Wallack had about 12.7%, and Councilwoman Kathy Miller had about 12.1%.” About 900 votes separated Healy and Miller. Barnacle and Pocekay had strong leads beating the pack by 4,000 votes.
Measure P was also passed in Sonoma County, which expands citizen’s oversight of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office. It was approved with a huge margin. Eddie Alvarez is positioned to be on the Santa Rosa City Council and turn into Roseland’s first representative.
Rohnert Park Urban Growth Boundary Extension and Modification was approved, as well. An article in the Sonoma County Gazette said that this measure will, “[extend] the city’s Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) restrictions on land use regarding community separators, agricultural land, and open space for 20 years and exclude 80 acres south of Valley House Drive and west of Petaluma Hill Road from the UGB restrictions.”
Lastly, Measure O also was approved by Sonoma County voters. The measure suggested a recommended mental health and homeless service sales tax. Because it passed, there is hope for improvement in drug addiction and abuse support in Sonoma County. It could potentially improve the lives of those who are addicts, thus improving the general community and homeless population.
