2020 Primary Election: Pleasanton, Alameda County Voter Guide

PLEASANTON, CA — With some 920,000 Alameda County voters registered ahead of the 2020 Presidential primary Election Day on Tuesday, March 3, Pleasanton voters are poised to decide whether to raise the county sales tax, vote on a schools bond measure, and vote for candidates running in county, state and federal races.

If the last election cycle is any indication, much of the county will have already received their vote by mail ballots. Nearly eight in ten Alameda County voters cast absentee ballots in the 2018 primary election, county records show.

Still need to drop off your absentee ballot? A list of Pleasanton ballot drop-off locations can be found here.

Voting the old-fashioned way, in person at a polling place? A list of Pleasanton precincts can be found here.

Still have questions about Election Day protocol? Call county elections staff at 510-272-6973.

Here's a look at what Pleasanton voters can expect to see on their ballots, from most to least local:

Measure M

Measure M is a $323 million bond measure that would raise money to improve Pleasanton Unified School District schools. It would result in a tax of $43.10 per $100,000 of assessed value for Pleasanton property owners.

PUSD seeks to use the money to modernize existing science labs, upgrade school pick ups/drop-offs to address safety and school-related traffic, replace/modernize high school gyms, add capacity to address enrollment growth, upgrade play structures and fields at school sites and add/or modernized high school theaters.

Read more here.

Measure C

Measure C would increase the Alameda County sales tax by a half-cent for 20 years and raise an estimated $150 million per year. Eighty percent of the money collected would go toward child care, preschool, and early education. The remaining 20 percent would go to pediatric health care.

Read more about the measure here.

Alameda County Supervisor, District 1

Three candidates are vying to represent the district including: Pleasanton; Castlewood; Happy Valley; the Oakland Lower Hills, South Hills and Elmhurst areas; Castro Valley; Cherryland; Fairview; and most of Ashland.

Incumbent Nate Miley and Esther Goolsby (environmental community organizer) are competing to represent the area.

Zone 7 Water Agency

Five candidates are vying to serve Alameda County on the Zone 7 Board of Directors.

Incumbents Angela Remirez Holmes and Dick Quigley are in the running, as are challengers Hugh Bussell (technical writer), Laurene Green (water resources engineer) and Sandy Figuers (groundwater geologist).

California State Assembly, District 16

Incumbent and Democrat Rebecca Bauer-Kahan and Republican Joseph A. Rubay are vying to represent the district that represents Tri-Valley and reaches as far as Moraga/Walnut Creek.

California State Senate, District 7

Three candidates are running to represent the district that includes Tri-Valley, Lamorinda, Concord, and stretches to Antioch and surrounding communities.
Incumbent and Democrat Steve Glazer is facing off against fellow Democrat and health care provider Marisol Rubio. Republican challenger and mother Julie Mobley is also in the running.

Read candidate statements from Glazer and Rubio here. Mobley did not file a candidate statement.

Proposition 13

This $15 billion state bond issue seeks to raise money for infrastructural projects at schools, community colleges and universities, and limit districts' abilities to impose developer fees.

Bond costs are estimated at a total of $740 million per year for the next 35 years, for a total of $25.6 billion.

Read the text of Prop 13 here. Read a summary from the Legislative Analyst's Office here.

U.S. Representative, District 15

Seven candidates are vying to represent the district that covers much of Alameda County and all of San Ramon.

Incumbent and Democrat Eric Swalwell is running against Democrat challengers Samantha Campbell (student and teacher), Austin E. Intal and Tuan Phan (biochemist).

Republicans Alison Hayden (special education teacher) and Peter Yuan Liu will face off against each other.

Nonpartisan candidate Don J. Grundmann (chiropractor) is also in the running.

Stay tuned to Patch as Election Day votes are counted in Alameda County and throughout California.

Patch Editors Bea Karnes and Toni McAllister contributed to this report.