Amber Manfree maintains lead in 2nd bid for District 4 supervisor seat in Napa County

In what was expected to be a close contest, Amber Manfree jumped to a modest early advantage over Pete Mott in the Napa County Board of Supervisors District 4 race.

In the third and final official tally, posted just after 11 p.m. Tuesday, Manfree had 1,581 votes to Mott’s 1,420, or a lead of 52.7% to 47.3%.

The district has a total of 16,746 registered voters.

“All of that coalition building,” Manfree said Tuesday night. “Doing all I could to demonstrate I wanted to establish working relationships throughout. I think that shows in my endorsements, and I think it shows in the level of support.”

Manfree spent part of Tuesday doing what she’s been doing for several months: knocking on doors, this time in the neighborhood around Queen of the Valley Hospital.

She reeled in two more commitments, Manfree said at her election night event at the Napa Women’s Club.

Her campaign volunteers knocked on about 5,500 doors in all, she said, and mailed an equivalent number of handwritten postcards. Many of the mailers were in Spanish. Manfree said 500 Napa County residents were actively supporting her campaign, a significant number for a race in a district that might ultimately gather 4,000 votes.

District 4 covers the northeast neighborhoods of Napa, and spreads into the rugged hills between the county seat and Lake Berryessa.

The area’s current supervisor, Alfredo Pedroza, will reach his term limit at the end of this year. He is currently clouded by a U.S. Department of Justice investigation that began in earnest in December and appears to be focused on a range of political and financial entanglements. The Press Democrat reported Monday that the FBI searched Pedroza’s home the week before Christmas.

His successor will be tasked with rebuilding public trust within the district.

Manfree, who ran against Pedroza in 2020 and lost by 10 percentage points, was not the underdog this time. A scientist with expertise in natural resource management, she has been embraced by environmental groups in Napa County, and residents who appreciated her willingness to take on Pedroza four years ago.

Manfree is a fifth-generation Napan whose family has lived in Soda Canyon since the 1930s. She placed emphasis on climate resilience and affordable housing in her campaign, and has advocated for establishment of both a climate action plan and an ethics commission at the county level.

If she wins this election, Napa County will emerge with an all-female board of supervisors. Los Angeles, which has had a five-woman board since 2021, is the only California county that has been able to make that claim.

Liz Alessio, who seemed well on her way to winning the District 2 supervisor race in Napa County by Wednesday morning, sounded ready to crown Manfree in District 4.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to work with Amber,” Alessio said Wednesday morning. “She brings a specialty of environmental science that is not my strength. And that’s what you look for. Even though it’s an all-women’s board, we have very diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.”

Manfree’s opponent in 2024, Pete Mott, is a local business owner and a veteran of the Napa City Council. He was generally seen as the more pro-business of the two candidates. And Mott has more government experience than Manfree, with 10 years on the city council, 10 years on the Napa Sanitation District board and two years on the city planning commission.

His campaign planks weren’t so different from Manfree’s, though. Mott emphasized housing for lower-income residents and wildfire mitigation, advocating a dedicated county funding source for the latter.

Manfree’s campaign raised a total of $105,000 in 2023, and another $55,000 in 2024. Mott raised a little under $45,000 in 2023 and just under $53,000 in 2024.

Mott was the recipient of a late infusion of donations, including $2,500 from PG&E on Feb. 21, $5,000 from the California Real Estate PAC on Feb. 26 and $2,500 from a Cal Fire labor organization Feb. 28.

You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.