Election Preview: San Mateo County 2020 Primary Races

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — Turnout is expected to be strong for Tuesday’s election in California, as many of San Mateo County's more than 400,000 registered voters make their choice in the presidential primary, vote on the largest proposed bond issue in state history and pick candidates in state and local races.

Statewide, there are 20.6 million registered voters, an increase of 3.3 million since the last presidential election in 2016. In fact, nearly 82 percent of eligible Californians are registered to vote, the highest heading into a California Presidential Primary in the past 68 years.

“California entered 2020 with a record 20.4 million registered voters—and I only expect that figure to climb as we reach the Presidential Primary in March and General Election in November,” Secretary of State Alex Padilla said.

Major Elections

The statewide races dominating the headlines in California are those for the presidential primary and Proposition 13.

Here in San Mateo County, voters will also weigh in on multiple school district bond measures and races for the statehouse and U.S. Congress.

School District bond measures

Voters in multiple cities will vote on bond measures that would use taxes to fund local school districts.

Voters in the San Mateo Union High School District (San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame, Hillsborough, Foster City) will consider Measure L, which would allow the district to issue $385 million in bonds, requiring a tax rate of $15.55 per $100,000 of assessed property value. The measure needs 55 percent approval to pass.

In the Burlingame Elementary School District, voters will consider Measure O, authorizing the district to issue $97 million in bonds, requiring an annual tax rate of $20 per $100,000 of assessed property value. It needs 55 percent approval to pass.

Voters in the San Carlos School District will consider Measure N, which would allow the district to increase the annual parcel tax from $246.60 to $334.60 per parcel for eight years. A two-thirds majority is required for it to pass.

Congress

In the 14th Congressional District (San Mateo County) incumbent Democrat Jackie Speier is facing Republican Ran Patel and independent Eric Taylor.

In the 20th Congressional District (Gilroy), incumbent Jimmy Panetta is facing Democrat Adam Bolanos Scow and Republican Jeff Gorman.

In the 18th Congressional District (Redwood City, Menlo Park), incumbent Democrat Anna Eshoo is facing Democrat Rishi Kumar, Republicans Richard Fox and Phil Reynolds and Libertarian Bob Goodwyn.

State Assembly

In the 22nd Assembly District (Belmont, Burlingame, Hillsborough, Pacifica, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, South San Francisco), incumbent Democrat Kevin Mullin is facing Republicans Mark Gilham and Bridget Mahoney.

State Senate

There's an open Senate seat in San Mateo County: in the 13th Senate District, term-limited incumbent Jerry Hill is retiring. The candidates running to replace him are Democrats Josh Becker, Mike Brownrigg, Sally Lieber, Shelly Masur and Annie Oliva, as well as Republican Alex Glew and Libertarian John Webster.

In the 11th Senate District (South San Francisco), incumbent Scott Wiener is being challenged by Democrat Jackie Fielder and Republican Erin Smith.

See also:

• What Is Proposition 13, California's $15 Billion Schools Bond?
  
• "Presidential Candidates To CA Small Donors: Give Us Our Daily Bread Crumbs"
• An Earlier Say: Race To The White House Runs Through California
• Law Would Make Voting Mandatory In California