News

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.

The Nov. 4 Election Day brought a wave of new and familiar faces to school boards across San Benito County. Of the 17 school races in the county, eight garnered enough qualified candidates to appear on the ballot for a deciding vote. 

The Hollister School District's Measure M, which proposed a $28.5 million general obligation facilities bond to fix leaky roofs, upgrade classrooms and improve campus security, had the lead in the latest release of election results.

With most mail-in ballots counted – poll and provisional ballots remained for tallying – the first round of unofficial results for Measure K showed the City of Hollister’s treasurer position would continue to be elected and not appointed.

The initial voting results are in and the unofficial figures show incumbent Ignacio Velazquez will keep his title as the City of Hollister’s mayor for another two years.

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.

Mickie Solorio Luna is headed toward a possible, narrow victory in Tuesday's election over fellow political newcomer Victoria Montoya in their race for a Hollister council seat.

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.