Carrillo, Furch early supervisorial leads

<p>Efren Carrillo, the political rookie dubbed “The Kid,” and veteran Sonoma County planning commissioner Rue Furch led late Tuesday in the eight-candidate race for the west county supervisorial seat.</p><p>Carrillo, 27, had 25 percent of the vote in early returns from the 5th District, with almost a third of the precincts reporting. Furch, 62, was in second place with 21 percent.</p><p>The top two candidates will compete in a runoff on Nov. 4.</p><p>“I’m humbled and very honored,” Carrillo said, predicting that he will hold onto a place in the runoff.</p><p>Carrillo said he worked hard on his campaign, continuing to walk door-to-door over the past weekend.</p><p>Furch said second place was “exactly where we expected to be. It’s perfect.” She said she was looking forward to the runoff.</p><p>“I’m thinking we’ll do just fine,” she said.</p><p>Maddie Hirshfield, 57, legislative aide to Assemblywoman Patty Berg, was third with 18 percent of the vote.</p><p>“I’m still feeling pretty confident,” Hirshfield said, noting that the top three vote-getters were separated by less than 1,000 votes late Tuesday night with 27 out of 86 precincts reporting.</p><p>Virtually tied in fourth place were Tom Lynch, a builder and community activist, and Jim Maresca, a retired high-tech business executive, both with about 10 percent.</p><p>The west county race was invigorated by the retirement of incumbent Supervisor Mike Reilly, who is stepping down after 12 years in office.</p><p>Carrillo, a consumer financial counselor with Redwood Credit Union, is also president of the board of Southwest Community Health Center. He received financial support from business and real estate groups and credit unions.</p><p>Furch’s campaign stumbled over revelations that she didn’t pay her property taxes for five years, and then paid her tax bill with a loan from a developer. </p><p>But Furch, with 16 years on the county planning panel, got strong support from environmental organizations and an endorsement by Reilly. </p><p>Hirshfield, a former chairwoman of Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee, ran for west county supervisor in 1996, when she came in fifth of seven candidates with 8 percent of vote.</p><p>Lynch, 50, is best known by the moniker, “Manure Man,” which he listed as his nickname on the election ballot. Lynch earned it for his act of disobedience a quarter century ago, dumping a tractor load of cow manure on the steps of Santa Rosa City Hall, protesting the city’s release of sewage into the Russian River.</p><p>Maresca, 64, a former Monte Rio school board member and Russian River Chamber of Commerce leader, put $100,000 of his own money into a campaign with lots of mailers and radio ads. </p><p>Rounding out the field were Guy F. Smith, an agricultural property manager with almost 8 percent; Dan Kahane, Sonoma County Water Agency program specialist, with almost 6 percent; and Eddie Alvarez, a Roseland business owner who dropped out of the race, with almost 3 percent.</p>