As voters bite their nails over close national competitions, the results of Marin’s local elections are coming into focus. Thousands of vote-by-mail ballots, including any that are postmarked by Election Day and arrive by Nov. 15, have yet to be counted. But preliminary results indicate that Measure O was defeated handily by Inverness voters. More than 76 percent rejected the wildfire prevention parcel tax, which came with high-profile endorsements but drew doubts from the Inverness Public Utility District and backlash from a group of locals.
Jerry Meral, who wrote and championed the initiative, accepted defeat. “The fire danger hasn’t gone away,” Mr. Meral said, adding: “This approach obviously did not appeal to the voters in Inverness.”
The endorsements Mr. Meral secured from Supervisor Dennis Rodoni, state assemblyman Marc Levine and representative Jared Huffman were evidently not enough to buoy Measure O to victory. The initiative’s supporters hoped the roughly $275,000 in revenue it would have generated for IPUD would usher in a more robust fire prevention role for the district and help speed up Inverness-focused work by the Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority. But Measure O’s critics objected to what they saw as a unilateral, alarmist campaign by Mr. Meral and pointed to the lack of a clear spending plan. Ultimately, those detractors appeared to win out.
“It’s a testimony to the perceptions and seriousness by which Inverness voters make up their minds,” said Tom Gaman, a forestry expert and vocal opponent of the tax. “It was not well thought out, and it was preying upon people’s emotional vulnerabilities. I think there was a resentment on the part of the voters.”
In other local election news, Supervisor Damon Connolly appears to have the upper hand over challenger Sara Aminzadeh in the state assembly race between the two Democrats. Supervisor Connolly, who represents much of San Rafael and Lucas Valley in county government, had a 10-point lead over Ms. Aminzadeh, a California coastal commissioner, on election night.
Supervisor Connolly and Ms. Aminzadeh were vying to replace Assemblyman Levine, who represents the 10th District (soon to be the 12th) encompassing all of Marin and much of Sonoma County. Assemblyman Levine opted not to run again in favor of an ultimately unsuccessful run for California Insurance Commissioner this year.
Ms. Aminzadeh got endorsements from an array of Sacramento politicians, but Supervisor Connolly had more name recognition in West Marin. “Coming out of the primary I knew Marin and West Marin would be well represented,” said Supervisor Rodoni, who endorsed both candidates. “Damon [Connolly], as our assemblymember, knows and understands West Marin, and will be a strong advocate in Sacramento.”
In the race for three seats on the Bolinas-Stinson Union school board, incumbents Nate Siedman and Arianne Dar and parent Jacob Tonski were the top three vote-getters. Another parent, Doug Lee, trailed them by a narrow margin. Mr. Lee admitted a win would be a long shot, but said it was an “honor just to sign up to serve.” In the Shoreline Unified School District race for two board seats, incumbents Heidi Koenig and Tim Kehoe had a commanding leg up over newcomer Buddy Faure.
In the competitive three-way race for the Marin Water board seat representing the San Geronimo Valley and Fairfax, Ranjiv Khush secured a significant lead, beating incumbent Larry Bragman by more than 28 points.
In Bolinas, Andrew Alexander Green won enough votes to join the Bolinas Community Public Utility District board along with incumbents Jack Siedman and Grace Godino, who secured re-election. Genie McNaughton, who formerly served on the board, trailed them, but can apply to be appointed by the board to replace outgoing director Don Smith, who decided to retire after the ballot deadline. The BCPUD board will meet to appoint Mr. Smith’s replacement on Nov. 16.
Democrats avoided a predicted red wave across the country, and unsurprisingly, California’s Democratic incumbents at the top of the ballot won commanding victories against their Republican challengers. Senator Alex Padilla was elected for a full term after being appointed to replace now-vice president Kamala Harris. Governor Gavin Newsom, along with his lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, insurance commissioner and attorney general, had no trouble winning re-election. Rep. Huffman deftly defeated his opponent to secure a sixth term representing California’s second congressional district. State Senator Mike McGuire will represent the North Coast for a third term.
Californians also chose to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution, joining several states whose voters opted to preserve reproductive rights in referendums months after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Voters rejected the gambling-related Props. 26 and 27, passed additional music and arts funding for public schools with Prop. 28, declined to further regulate dialysis clinics with Prop. 29, rejected the Lyft-backed Prop. 30, and banned most flavored tobacco products with Prop. 31. In Marin, Measure B, the widely supported parcel tax renewal to fund public libraries, passed with 73 percent of the vote.