McGuire wins supervisor race

A jubilant Mike McGuire won the 4th district Supervisor’s seat
Tuesday night securing 61.8 percent of the total or 11,664
voters.
McGuire took an early lead from the very start and maintained a
lead of several thousand votes throughout the night. When early
results were posted just after 8 p.m. McGuire had 61 percent of
early reports compared to 38 percent for Debora Fudge.
As additional precincts reported throughout the night, the vote
totals increased, but the percentages remained stable and by 9:30
p.m. the McGuire camp felt confident enough to give a victory
speech to supporters gathered at the Hampton Inn.
“It’s because of all of you in this room that we’ve found
success, not only for Northern Sonoma County, but for all of Sonoma
County,” he told the crowd.
McGuire thanked everyone involved in his campaign and made
special mention of his fiancé, Erica Fremault who he called “the
best thing to ever happen in my life.”
Both candidates held post election parties in Windsor with
McGuire celebrating at the Hampton Inn and Fudge hosting an event
at KC’s Downtown Grill.
Throughout the campaign, McGuire proved tireless on the campaign
trail and said he and his volunteers walked and called more than
90,000 residents. He also mobilized support through online outreach
efforts on sites like facebook and twitter.
McGuire credited the strength of his grass roots campaign for
the win. “I am so extremely grateful for all your support,” he told
friends Tuesday night. “We couldn’t have done this without
you.”
On Wednesday morning he said he was surprised and humbled by the
show of support he received at the polls.
“I know that the hard work starts now and we’re going to need to
come together to face the serious challenges ahead and move Sonoma
County forward. I’m deeply humbled, honored and grateful for the
opportunity to serve the county,” he said.
McGuire also thanked Fudge for her “wonderful commitment to
Sonoma County” and said he looked forward to working with her in
the future.
If McGuire resigns from the Healdsburg Council prior to the
November election, the city can put his seat on the November
ballot. McGuire said the council will agendize and discuss that
option at an upcoming meeting.
On a State level, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina captured the
Republican nominations for Governor and Senate while San Francisco
Mayor Gavin Newsom won the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant
Governor.
Prop 13 passed, allowing property owners to make seismic
retrofits to avoid additional taxes. Prop 14 passed securing open
primaries. Prop 17 also passed which allows some discounts to
travel with drivers as they switch insurance companies but also
adds charges if insurance lapses.
The most controversial item on the ballot, PG&E’s financed
Prop 16 was losing by a narrow margin at press time. PG&E spent
$46 million in support of the measure that would require a
two-thirds majority of voters to approve any efforts by local
governments enter the electricity business.
Locally voters approved Prop 13, 14, 15, and a school bond for
the Mark West Union School District. Sonoma County voters opposed
Prop 16 and 17 almost two to one.
Ravitch wins
D.A. race
After an often bitterly contested campaign for Sonoma County
District Attorney, challenger Jill Ravitch celebrated a very sweet
birthday with a solid victory over incumbent Stephan
Passalacqua.
After coming up short four years ago, Ravitch got an earlier
start in this election and put together a better funded and
well-organized campaign that fetched her 54 percent of the total
votes.
Supported by Sheriff Bill Cogbill and nearly all of the county’s
police and deputies unions, Ravitch pounded away at what she called
Passalacqua’s poor conviction rate and his “lost confidence” from
law enforcement agencies and courtroom attorneys.
The two candidates traded sharply barbed accusations throughout
the three-month campaign at a series of face-to-face debates and in
direct mailers.
Ravitch, 52, is a Sebastopol resident and has served the past
two years as a deputy district attorney for Mendocino County. Prior
to that she served for 12 years as a prosecutor in the Sonoma
County D.A. office.
With very few other “hot contests” on the ballot, only 39
percent (95,301) of the county’s 245,000 voters cast ballots on
Tuesday.
In state assembly and state senate races only the Democrat 7th
District Assembly race held suspense with union attorney Michael
Allen clinging to a very narrow (850 votes) over Vallejo councilman
Michael Wilson.
Current 7th District Assembly woman Noreen Evans easily won the
Democrat race in the 2nd District to replace retiring Senator Pat
Wiggins.
New Superior Court judges will be Nancy Case Shaffer, Jamie
Thistlewaite and Patrick Broderick.
California’s General Election will be held Nov. 2 when a new
governor will be chosen between Republican winner Meg Whitman and
Democrat warhorse Jerry Brown.