Autopsy on Nov. 4 Elections

There were a few surprises in yesterday’s election; some major political shifts; and, if form follows function, immediately after breakfast work will begin throughout San Mateo County on the 2015 elections.

As expected, Propositions 1, 2, and 47 easily passed, while 45, 46 and 48 failed. The Donkeys swept all the statewide offices though Alex Padilla (Secretary of State) and Betty Yee (State Controller) swooped in at the end to capture their respective seats after either trailing or leading by less than 2% throughout most of the election. Teacher Union-backed Democrat (Tom Torlakson was retained as Superintendent of Public Instruction and locally, Assemblymen Phil Ting, Kevin Mullin and Rich Gordon breezed to re-election. (In the Tri-Valley area – Livermnore, Dublin, Pleasanton, etc. - Republican Catharine Baker defeated union boss Tim Sbranti (D) in a nasty campaign to win the 16th Assembly District seat.)

Meanwhile, Dems lost the bragging rights of supermajorities in the legislative houses. Jerry Brown won by double digits while spending money mostly to buoy two ballot measures, Props 1 and 2. Nationally, the Dems got skunked overall, losing control of the U.S. Senate as the GOP maintained control of the House though Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier won re-election rather handily.

Surprises? Two challengers topped the charts in the race for Half Moon Bay City Council (Dr. Deborah Penrose and Deborah Ruddock) while incumbent Allan Alifano was not re-elected though fellow Councilman, Rick Kowalcayk, was returned to office.

John Keener came out of nowhere to capture a spot on the Pacifica City Council while incumbents Mike O’Neill and Sue Digre won re-election. Keener’s lone issue was to stop the widening of Highway 1. In Daly City, incumbents Ray Buenaventura and Mike Guingona cake-walked to re-election while former Council member Judith Christensen overcame a strong campaign by challenger Tom Ledda for the third spot. And the three winners in Menlo Park were Peter Ohtaki, Kirsten Keith and Rich Cline.

In Colma, incumbents Joanne Del Rosario and Helen Fisicaro won re-election while in East Palo Alto, Donna Rutherford and Ruben Abrica got the nod. The election in Atherton saw Rick Degolia, Bill Widmer and Rose Hu get elected to the Council whereas in Hillsborough, incumbents Laurence May and Marie Chuang held of a spirited campaign by challenger Kristy Kim to retain their seats.

Semi-locally, in Congressional District 17 (South Bay), incumbent Dem Mike Honda managed to hold off challenger Ro Khanna in a hard fought race. It was the first time Honda had been tested in an election in years. A little further south, there’s a major upset brewing in Congressional District 16. Republican Johnny Tacherra was leading incumbent Democrat Jim Costa in this Fresno-based district. If his lead holds, that would be the biggest upset in the state, where polling had Costa up by 14%.

And apparently we like to tax ourselves, at least when it comes to education. Voters in the San Mateo County Community College District, the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District and the Jefferson Union High School District all approved bond measures while the Bayshore Elementary School District and Burlingame School District passed parcel taxes. And how was your November 4?.

(Image via Shutterstock)