The big news of the night was President Barack Obama’s re-election. He received 74.7 percent of the reported votes in Santa Cruz County. His challenger, Mitt Romney, received 21 percent of local votes.
California had some notable wins and losses, as well. Although things were not looking good for Proposition 30 last night, the governor’s tax initiative pulled through and is now reported to have passed with 53.9 percent of the vote. Four other propositions emerged victorious—35, 36, 39 and 40—while the rest, including Proposition 34, which proposed repealing the death penalty in California, failed. Sixty-three percent of Santa Cruz County votes counted as of this morning were in favor of Prop. 34.
Santa Cruz County showed a high level of support—65.6 percent—for Proposition 37, which would have required the labeling of genetically modified foods. However, the proposition failed to pass statewide, garnering just 47 percent of the overall vote.
At the local level, the most contentious local race remains too close to call. Board of Supervisor’s Fifth District candidates Bruce McPherson and Eric Hammer appear to be nearly tied—with 8,798 and 8,772 votes counted, respectively. The County Clerk’s office has reported that it may take weeks to finish counting the ballots and determine the winner.
Four of eight Santa Cruz City Council candidates will get seats on the council. The four who pulled in the most votes as of this morning (note that many ballots remain to be counted) were, in order of most votes earned, Don Lane, Cynthia Mathews, Pamela Comstock and Micah Posner.
Measure P, the “Right to Vote on Desal” initiative in the City of Santa Cruz, had a reported 71.44 percent of votes as of this morning.
For a full list of unofficial Santa Cruz County elections results, click here.
