Two incumbent county supervisors are cruising to victory after Tuesday’s election, while a third is holding onto a 41-vote lead and will likely earn a second term on the board.
District 2 Supervisor Anthony Botelho and District 5 Supervisor Jaime De La Cruz each put together resounding victories in the state primary election. District 1 Supervisor Margie Barrios will have to wait until the elections office finishes counting late mail-in ballots to confirm a win.
There will be no runoff in November for the board races because there were just two candidates in each race.
After all polling precincts were counted Tuesday – leaving about 1,500 mail-in ballots to tally – De La Cruz held a 65.9 percent to 33.1 percent lead (595 votes to 299) and Botelho had a 57.4 percent to 42.2 percent margin (916 votes to 671). De La Cruz and Botelho, if the unofficial results are confirmed, will be set to serve their respective third, four-year terms on the board.
Barrios led 51.1 percent to 48.2 percent, or 709 votes to 668, and would serve a second term with a victory.
Her lead should be enough to hold off challenger Mark Starritt, said San Benito County’s head elections official Joe Paul Gonzalez.
“I would be surprised if the trend that was established, with all the other results, was reversed,” Gonzalez said. “Now if it was a higher voter turnout election, I wouldn’t be saying that.”
With 1,500 votes left to count, about one-fifth of those – or 300 – should be in District 1.
Gonzales said he hopes the office has final votes counted by sometime next week.
When that happens voter turnout in San Benito County should finish around 33 percent, Gonzalez said, which is about the expectation statewide.
Board races, meanwhile, weren’t the only considerations locally.
Hollister voters decided they want to elect an at-large mayor with four council districts in approving Measure B in a 71 percent to 29 percent margin. On Measure C, they voted 62.8 percent to 37.2 percent to make the mayor’s job a two-year term instead of four years.
On Measure D, voters said “no” to the idea of appointing the city treasurer instead of electing the person in a 55.4 percent to 44.6 percent margin of defeat.
