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.
Muenzer had 1,224 votes to 1,170 for Gomez. That’s an advantage of 51 percent to 48.8 percent, according to the latest unofficial results
Muenzer gained 101 more votes than Gomez after the June primary. Muenzer is seeking his second, four-year term on the San Benito County Board of Supervisors. Gomez is attempting to move into county politics from his city seat where he is serving a second term as councilman.
Previously, Muenzer owned the family-owned Muenzer’s Cyclery & Sports Center business in downtown Hollister that closed its sporting goods store in early 2013 and now runs a locksmith shop. He is perhaps most known as a supervisor for his involvement with efforts to make Pinnacles a national park.
Gomez is in his second term representing District 4 on the Hollister City Council. The former owner of the Hollister Papa Murphy’s pizza store now works for a San Jose councilman, while he has continually touted a pro-business agenda.
Gomez responded Wednesday.
“It’s definitely a deficit – it’s going to be tough to overcome it,” Gomez said. “Either way, I’m very happy with the race that I ran. If Jerry does stay on the top, I totally respect the vote of the residents. They seem to be satisfied with the condition of the county and their representative.”
Muenzer could not be reached before publication.
