Novato voters are deciding who will represent them in two contested City Council races, with several candidates looking to unseat or replace incumbents.
As of 8:25 p.m. on Tuesday night, Mayor Rachel Farac is leading the city council race in District 2, facing Mike Little and Bob Rasmussen, while District 4 has an even bigger field: incumbent Pat Eklund is narrowly ahead of Chris Carpiniello with Dan Christian and Luiggino Galletto trailing behind.
The results will determine the makeup of the council for the next several years, while voters are also weighing countywide and statewide measures. The District 4 race is particularly notable for the number of candidates competing for a single seat.
Scroll down for real-time Marin County 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 Marin County, the rate of voter registration is high. As of September, it was 95 percent — with 61 percent of voters registered as Democrats, 12 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.
The 2026 election for California's 2nd Senate District is an open-seat contest because incumbent Sen. Mike McGuire is terming out. The district includes Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Sonoma and Trinity counties. Democrat Damon Connolly, a state Assemblymember and former Marin County supervisor, faces Republican Tief Gibbs, a Novato small-business owner who previously ran for Congress in 2024. Connolly and Gibbs advanced from the June primary after finishing first and second, respectively, among three candidates.
California's 12th Assembly District race is open in 2026 because Democratic Assemblymember Damon Connolly is running for the State Senate. The district includes all of Marin County and portions of Sonoma County, including Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Cotati and Santa Rosa. Two Democrats advanced from the June primary and will face off in November: Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan and Rohnert Park Councilmember Jackie Elward. Lucan, who received the most votes in the primary, has emphasized his local-government experience and work on housing, transportation, climate resilience, and economic issues. Elward, an educator and former labor organizer, has focused her campaign on affordability, education, climate policy and housing.
Novato City Council, District 2
Three candidates are running for one seat on the Novato City Council representing District 2: incumbent Rachel Farac, Mike Little and Bob Rasmussen. Farac was first elected to the council in 2022 and currently serves as mayor. The winner will serve a four-year term.
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Novato City Council, District 4
Four candidates are running for one four-year seat on the Novato City Council representing District 4: incumbent Pat Eklund, Dan Christian, Luiggino Joseph Galletto III and Chris Carpiniello. Eklund is seeking another term on the council, while Christian, Galletto and Carpiniello are challenging for the seat.
U.S. House, District 2
Democratic incumbent Rep. Jared Huffman is seeking another term in the U.S. House against Republican challenger Robin Littau in California's 2nd Congressional District. Huffman was first elected to Congress in 2012 and has represented the district since then. Littau is a Coast Guard veteran, Redding business owner and former Enterprise Elementary School Board member. The redrawn district stretches from Marin County north to the Oregon border, including Marin, Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity, Shasta, Siskiyou and Modoc counties. This is Huffman's first election under the district's current boundaries.
Measure P – County of Marin Childcare Initiative
The measure would impose a special parcel tax of 5 cents per square foot of building space, capped at 100,000 square feet per parcel, generating an estimated $12.5 million annually for 15 years. The money would fund childcare, preschool and early childhood education, improve compensation for childcare providers, and develop or expand early-care and education facilities. Administrative costs would be capped at 5 percent of annual proceeds, and the measure would require annual independent audits, public reporting, and community oversight. The tax could be adjusted annually for inflation beginning in its second fiscal year. It would require a simple majority to pass.
Supporters say the measure would help address Marin's shortage of affordable, high-quality childcare, expand available childcare spaces, improve pay for educators and allow more parents to remain in the workforce. They also point to the measure's restrictions on how the money can be spent and its auditing and oversight requirements.
Opponents argue that the measure does not establish specific spending allocations, income thresholds, or measurable performance requirements, and that its 15-year duration is too long. They also question whether it would directly reduce childcare costs for Marin families, note that the measure does not require beneficiaries to be Marin residents, and object to the lack of exemptions for lower-income homeowners or seniors.
For more information, check out marincounty.gov/departments/elections.
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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