[ Santa Cruz | Metroactive Home | Archives ]

The Final Showdown Metro Santa Cruz lets the supervisor candidates have the last word as one of the most memorable recent election races nears the finish THE BATTLE TO BECOME SUPE for District 3, which includes Santa Cruz, Bonny Doon and Davenport, began innocuously enough last fall, when county law librarian Pat Pfremmer and former Chamber of Commerce CEO Mike Schmidt challenged incumbent Mardi Wormhoudt in a three-way race in which Wormhoudt was deemed the easy favorite. But things heated up in November 2001, when Pfremmer was replaced by self-styled contrarian and architect Mark Primack, who has made his mark on the current City Council by promoting the legalization of granny units. Wormhoudt won the March primary with 47 percent, compared to Primack's 39 percent. But Mike Schmidt, who co-authored the initiative to repeal the city's utility tax, drew away 13 percent of the votes and is now asking supporters to back Primack. The challenger has even raised $86,096 to Wormhoudt's $84,00--all of which suggests another close race. All of this has led to the most closely watched and heavily covered races we've seen in a long time. In fact, so much has already been said about the battle for this supe seat that we figured the only fair way to wrap it up was to let both the candidates make their final pitches themselves. They both took the 1,000 words apiece that we offered and ran with it. And so, now, ladies and gentlemen, here they are, your supervisor candidates, going head to head, uncut and uncensored, for the last time ... at least, that is, until next election. Mark Primack: In His Own Words Mardi Wormhoudt: In Her Own Words [ Santa Cruz | Metroactive Central | Archives ]