NAPA VALLEY, CA — The polls are closed in Napa County, and voters will soon know who will lead St. Helena and Yountville and represent Napa's Council District 3, if billionaires will get their own California tax, and whether a blue wave will flood Congress, possibly sinking the final two years of President Donald Trump's lame-duck presidency.
The outcome of down-ballot races also hangs in the balance across Napa Valley. Voters are waiting to find out whether Mary Luros or Jim Hinton won Napa's District 3 council seat, whether Bonnie Schoch or Patrick Kenealy will become St. Helena's mayor, and whether Yountville Mayor Marjorie Mohler held off challenger Joe Tagliaboschi.
Scroll down for real-time Napa Valley election results.
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As of September, the California Secretary of State reported that 23,164,977 Californians were registered to vote, which accounts for more than 85 percent of the state's eligible voting population.
Not surprisingly, there are far more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state, with 45 percent for the former and 25 percent for the latter.
In Napa County, the rate of voter registration is high. As of September, it was 88 percent — with 50 percent of voters registered as Democrats, 22 percent as Republicans.
Based on early voting, California is poised to see 60 percent of registered voters head to the polls, a record for a gubernatorial race, Paul Mitchell, of political data analysis firm Political Data told The San Francisco Chronicle.
While the governor's race was expected to be called early Tuesday, it's California's congressional races and ballot measures poised to offer the biggest upsets and surprises. Hanging in the balance is control of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mitchell predicted that five key redrawn congressional districts appear poised to deliver Democratic victories driven, in part, by high turnout among Latino voters.
"I think the blue wave is on track," Mitchell told The Chronicle. "It seems to be on track that we're going to have a really strong turnout."
So far, voter turnout has been higher in competitive races such as the Central Valley's District 22 and the 48th Congressional District in San Diego — two districts Democrats hope to flip after their mid-decade gerrymander.
As of Oct. 29, Democratic voters represented 51 percent of ballots returned statewide compared to just 28 percent among Republican voters, according to the Political Data tracker.
Napa Valley's election returns Tuesday night showed early leads in congressional, city and school board contests.
Napa County's count at 10 p.m. Tuesday included 17,195 ballots, representing about 20 percent of registered voters.
In U.S. House District 4, Democratic incumbent Mike Thompson was leading among Napa County voters with 61 percent of the votes, followed by fellow Democrat Eric Jones with 39 percent. These totals cover Napa County only and do not represent the full congressional district (9,806 votes to 6,170 votes).
In California Assembly District 4, Democratic incumbent Cecilia Aguiar-Curry ran unopposed.
In the city of Napa, Councilmember Mary Luros was leading Jim Hinton in District 3 with 70 percent of the votes to 30 percent (1,448 votes to 625 votes). Christopher DeNatale ran unopposed in District 1.
In American Canyon, Sindy Biederman and David Oro led the race for two City Council seats with 29 percent and 26 percent of the votes, respectively.
Robert Cole has 19 percent, Jason Kishineff had 16 percent and Jim Giron 10 percent (594 votes for Biederman; 529 for Oro; 378 for Cole; 317 for Kishineff; 207 for Giron).
In St. Helena, Bonnie Schoch was leading Patrick Kenealy for mayor with 69 percent of the votes to 31 percent (742 votes to 329 votes) as of 10 p.m.
Daniel Hale and Joshua Parke were leading the race for two St. Helena council seats with 29 percent and 26 percent of the votes, respectively.
Scott Diaz had 20 percent, Kate Spadarotto had 18 percent and John Pedersen had 6 percent of votes (507 votes for Hale; 462 for Parke; 355 for Diaz; 323 for Spadarotto; 113 for Pedersen).
In Yountville, incumbent Mayor Marjorie Mohler and Joe Tagliaboschi were tied, each with 50 percent of the votes (343 votes each).
Hillery Bolt Trippe and Robin McKee was leading the race for two Yountville Town Council seats with 27 percent and 26 percent of the votes, respectively.
Jill Turner has 20 percent, Matthew Chrzanowski had 19 percent and Jessi Bugden had 6 percent (307 votes for Trippe; 296 for McKee; 229 for Turner; 210 for Chrzanowski; 63 for Bugden).
Calistoga has no municipal contest on the ballot after the city canceled its election when the number of qualified candidates matched the available mayoral and council seats.
For the Napa Valley Unified school board, Robin Jankiewicz was leading Matthew McMann in Trustee Area 1 with 66 percent of the votes to 34 percent (1,859 votes to 955 votes).
In Trustee Area 6, Elba Gonzalez-Mares led Tyrone Navarro with 60 percent of the votes to 40 percent (1,062 votes to 702 votes).
In Trustee Area 7, David Hildebrandt was ahead with 43 percent of the votes, followed by Jason M. Dooley with 30 percent, John Houser with 19 percent, and Gabriel Champagne Affonso with 8 percent (811 votes to 557 votes to 358 votes to 160 votes).
In the race for two board seats on the Calistoga Joint Unified School District, Laurel Rios and Irene Pena had 33 percent and 24 percent of the votes, respectively. Cecilia Ramirez was taking 23 percent and Rebecca Sager had 20 percent (525 votes for Rios; 382 for Pena; 365 for Ramirez; 321 for Sager).
For the Napa Valley College board, Jeff Dodd was leading Heriverto Ruiz in Trustee Area 2 with 65 percent of the votes to 35 percent (912 votes to 483 votes).
In Trustee Area 3, Emily Pastula was ahead with 40 percent of the votes, followed by Elizabeth L. Goff with 33 percent, and Karina Servente with 27 percent (386 votes to 318 votes to 255 votes).
In Trustee Area 4, William "Kyle" Iverson is leading Cindy Johnson with 53 percent of the votes to 47 percent (1,347 votes to 1,187 votes).
On countywide Measure B, yes had 64 percent of the votes, followed by no with 36 percent. The measure would establish a half-cent sales tax for 18 years to support wildfire preparedness, watershed protection and open space preservation, generating an estimated $23 million annually (10,527 yes votes to 5,940 no votes).
On American Canyon's Measure P, yes was leading with 59 percent of the votes, followed by no with 41 percent. The measure would establish a 1 percent sales tax for general city services, generating an estimated $3.7 million annually until voters repeal it (768 yes votes to 531 no votes).
On St. Helena's Measure S, yes had 58 percent of the votes, followed by no with 42 percent. The measure would establish a half-cent sales tax for general city services, generating an estimated $2 million annually until voters end it (629 yes votes to 464 no votes).
On Yountville's Measure Y, yes had a strong lead with 82 percent of the votes, followed by no with 18 percent. The measure would update the town's constitutional spending limit for four years, allowing the town to appropriate qualifying tax revenue without creating a new tax or increasing existing tax rates (579 yes votes to 127 no votes).
California voters headed to the polls Tuesday, facing high gas and grocery prices, the effects of climate change on wildfires and rising seas amid a shortage in insurance coverage and the ever-present housing affordability crisis.
The governor's race was somewhat anticlimactic following a chaotic primary with a crowded field of candidates roiled when the frontrunner was forced to step down amid sexual assault allegations. Since then, Becerra maintained a steady lead over Hilton in the polls.
In the final days of the election, a new SurveyUSA poll showed Becerra with a 22-point lead.
Click here for real-time results in the California Governor's races.
All 52 of California's Congressional seats were on the ballot.
Congressional races across California were under intense scrutiny following voter approval of Proposition 50, a partisan redistricting measure expected to reshape the state's political map. Thanks to the redistricting, only a handful of districts were truly competitive. Democrats hoped to flip as many as five Republican House seats in a bid to overturn the GOP's slim House majority.
Democrats think they can flip as many as five seats, with four seeming very much in reach, according to the polls. Both parties are spending like control of the House is on the line.
Click here for real-time results in California's Congressional races.
There were 14 statewide propositions on the ballot this week. Arguably, the most hot-button ballot initiatives involve taxation. Proposition 40 is the highly discussed billionaire tax, while Propositions 41 and 42 aim to counter the measure. Proposition 3 also addresses taxes on the state's highest earners.
Click here for real-time results for all of California's ballot measures.
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