Politics

Mickie Solorio Luna looks to be pulling out the race to become the next District 2 council member in Hollister, according to unofficial results released Friday afternoon.

In response to voters’ passage of Measure J on Tuesday, Citadel Exploration has filed a document with federal regulators indicating the oil exploration company intends to pursue legal options in an attempt to move ahead on plans for steaming extraction in the Bitterwater area.

With more voting results expected at 5 p.m. Friday, incumbent Supervisor Jerry Muenzer held a lead over challenger Victor Gomez in the race for the District 4 county board seat after early results released Tuesday.

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.

With vote by mail ballots received through Sunday counted and all precincts reporting, county election officials expect there are still between 4,500 and 5,500 outstanding vote-by-mail ballots that arrived Monday and Tuesday of this week and might sway the results of some of the closer races.

After it became clear Measure J would pass Tuesday night at initiative supporters’ headquarters, Congressman Sam Farr told the crowd that their efforts could “wake up” the rest of the state’s counties and communities throughout the nation. Farr in an interview after the speech, however, told the Free Lance he wasn’t opposed to cyclic steaming, a practice banned in the local initiative and one that is used at a massive oil field in his home county.

Retired San Benito High School Principal Tim Shellito believes the victory for supporters of Measure J – set to ban all enhanced petroleum extraction countywide – shows that “John Q. Public” is alive.

Both city and county voters are headed toward rejecting separate proposals to increase the hotel tax from 8 percent to 12 percent in the area, according to early election results.

Jim West, Chris Martorana and Tony Boch took the early lead in the race for three open San Juan Bautista council seats, according to early results released Tuesday.