Newcomer Karson Klauer is headed toward victory over two-term former Councilman Robert Scattini in the race for the open District 3 seat after early election results released Tuesday.
Klauer had 455 votes, or 61.82 percent, to 279, or 37.91 percent for Scattini, according to the latest results available.
Klauer, 26, is running for an elected seat for the first time while Scattini, 74, is seeking his third term on the Hollister council to go with many years in other elected positions such as sheriff and marshal.
As for the District 3 council seat, Scattini, who runs a legal civil service business, is trying to move over from the District 2 seat from which he recently resigned due to his move out of the district to a home he owns in District 3.
Klauer, a Realtor by trade, said his major goals include economic development, revitalizing downtown, expanding the number of parks here and getting someone in the vacant executive director role at the Economic Development Corporation of San Benito County.
“Obviously, I’m really happy with the result,” Klauer said, adding he’s excited to meet staff members and get acclimated. “We worked really hard on the campaign for the last two months so it was really nice to see a positive result.”
Scattini pointed to the new district and said voters there “didn’t know me.”
“I didn’t get voted out of office because I didn’t do my job,” he said.
He thinks Klauer will “do a good job.”
“I just want to thank the public for having me in office for eight years,” he said, referring to his two, four-year terms on the council.
