Santa Cruz County voters officially come through for Gavin Newsom

SANTA CRUZ — On the eve of California’s certification deadline for the gubernatorial recall race of Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Secretary of State website showed that there were no unprocessed ballots left.

Statewide, Newsom kept his job with approximately 62% of constituents voting to keep him rather than replace him with an alternative candidate such as Republican talk show host Larry Elder.

In Santa Cruz, Newsom’s support was even more substantial. Approximately 78% of registered voters who participated in the election voted against his recall.

Santa Cruz County residents were joined by coastal counties up and down the state in voting no; the majority of the 38% statewide who voted, primarily, to bring in Elder were inland counties. Elder had a much looser grip on Santa Cruz County than in many other county or statewide contests; just 29% of voters filled in the bubble next to his name, followed by the 16% who voted for Newsom’s fellow Democrat Kevin Paffrath.

Around 69% of Santa Cruz County voters, or 116,328 individuals, submitted a ballot in September, with a majority of the group turning in mail-in ballots. The night of the election, 45% of eligible voters had handed in their envelopes and gone home to watch the fate of the governor’s seat unfold.

“That’s obviously not as high as it was in our last election when we had (around) an 88% turnout, but 45% is pretty good for an election,” Webber told the Sentinel at the time. “A lot of voters came out and participated.”

The state had yet to publish its data around voter turnout for the Sept. 14 election Thursday evening.

Upcoming election

Some Santa Cruz County voters will be asked to fill out a ballot one more time before the year ends: Santa Cruz residents. Due to a recent elections law created by Gov. Newsom, all of those registered to vote within the city began receiving the ballot for Measure A, a measure that would allocate funding from the city’s cannabis tax to early childhood development programs, Oct. 4.

Proponents of Measure A argue that voting yes affirms commitment to improving the lives of local youth. Supporters include Santa Cruz County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty, Santa Cruz City Schools Superintendent Kris Munro, City Councilmember Martine Watkins and more.

No opponents had identified themselves or filed an argument against the measure as of this week.

Those who are wondering about the arrival of their ballot can call the Santa Cruz County Elections Department at (831) 454-2060 or visit one of the in-person voting locations named at votescount.us.

Residents can mail in their ballot or vote in person any time between now and Nov. 2. Those who choose to vote in person are asked to follow current public health protocols such as hand sanitizing and physical distancing. Anyone who is sick should avoid visiting a voting center.