Primary results show nothing is certain in San Benito
The political climate in San Benito County may cool down now
that two major county races have clear winners after the votes were
tallied in the Tuesday night primary but a third race promises to
stay heated through the fall.
Primary results show nothing is certain in San Benito
The political climate in San Benito County may cool down now that two major county races have clear winners after the votes were tallied in the Tuesday night primary but a third race promises to stay heated through the fall.
In a three-way race for supervisor of District 3, incumbent Pat Loe came away with a 55 percent majority over former supervisor Richard Place. The third candidate, Ron Stubblefield, died of a heart attack two weeks before the election, but still garnered 13 percent of the vote.
“I was not surprised,” said Jennifer Zapata, a San Benito resident active in Republican politics. “Pat, I felt, was a very strong candidate. She is level headed and she’s been doing a good job for the county.”
As an incumbent, Loe may have had an advantage in the largely urban district that makes up the South end of Hollister, Zapata said.
“People get reelected because the public feels comfortable with them,” said Matt Escover, a political science professor and former city council member. “The public may have said [she has] experience. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”
Four years ago, Loe won the election with 59 percent of the vote and Escover saw her high returns in the recent election as a good sign for the incumbent.
“She’s perceived positively and respected,” Escover said. “That’s why she won easily.”
Other incumbents in San Benito County did not fare so well.
In two other races in San Benito, the incumbent advantage failed two candidates in the primary. Reb Monaco, the Supervisor for district 4, edged out Tracie L. Cone by just 2 percent of the votes. The race between the two candidates will continue with a runoff in November.
“All three of the candidates actively campaigned so its not surprising that there is a runoff,” Zapata said. “When I left an election night gathering last night, District 4 was still up in the air.”
Monaco was not surprised by the outcome, but had hoped a runoff wouldn’t be necessary.
“I was looking forward to being able to carry it in the primary as the incumbent,” Monaco said the day after the election. “I’ve been doing a decent job.”
Monaco blamed the low voter turnout and a three-way race on the close election results.
“I will be gearing up for the campaign in November,” Monaco said. “That will be my main focus – rallying my supporters back.”
Opponent Cone read other reasons into the votes.
“I’m happy with the way things turned out,” Cone said. “63 percent of voters think Reb’s performance has been so lackluster, that they voted against him.”
With only 2.5 percent of the votes separating the two candidates, Monaco and Cone will need to campaign hard to pick up the 29 percent of the primary voters that selected John Hodges as their candidate of choice.
“I’d say most likely you will see Hodges’ people line up behind Monaco,” Escover said. “Tracie would be perceived more as a newcomer. Hodges’ roots go very deep and he has rural contacts that I would guess are similar to Monaco’s.”
Cone is up for the challenge of drawing in Hodges votes.
“People tell me I am [in a good position],” Cone said. “I am a novice campaigner, but from all the calls I got people seem to think I am in a great position.”
In another hotly contested race, incumbent John Sarsfield squared off in a bitter race against Hollister defense attorney Arthur Cantu and Deputy District Attorney Candice Hooper Mancino.
Election billboards supporting Sarsfield were defaced during the weeks leading up to the election. Cantu had his name dragged through the mud on local blogs and in political advertisements recapping a seven-year old divorce proceeding.
“Many people in the community – from the feedback I got – was that people were tired of the negativity,” Escover said. “They wanted to see the DA’s office run properly and there was a public perception, whether it’s true or nor, that it wasn’t.
Escover speculated that there may have been too much controversy during Sarsfield’s tenure, whether it was warranted or not, leading the public to believe the job wasn’t being done right. San Benito has a long history of reelecting incumbent district attorneys, as well as other elected department heads.
“If the job is being done well, its in safe hands,” Escover said. “In my memory – and it goes back fairly far – Sarsfield is the first DA turned out by the voters.”
Mancino may have had an advantage over Cantu in the race as a San Benito deputy district.
“San Benito County has a long tradition of district attorneys coming from the department,” Escover said. “They had the experience as prosecutors. I’m not saying that is the only measure, but that has been one way the voters have gone.”
In the end, Mancino, who managed to avoid the mudslinging, reaped in a clear majority of the votes with 50 percent. Cantu came in with 27.7 percent of the votes and Sarsfield had 21.7.
As Cone and Monaco gear up for the November general election, voters seem to be asking negativity be kept out of the campaign.
“The fact that we were below the state average [with voter turnout], I would say negative campaigns tend to keep people away,” said Joe Paul Gonzalez, the newly elected Clerk/Auditor/Recorder. “It’s a turn-off to voters.”
Escover had some other words of advice.
“If you are going to run for office in San Benito, you need a lawyer and a thick skin,” Escover said.
