Good morning! Here’s what happened in Sonoma County elections last night

If you went to bed Tuesday night before the latest election results were posted, don’t worry. We stayed up late so you wouldn’t have to. As you wake up Wednesday morning, we’re still waiting for final results, but here’s how things are shaking out:

Visit election.pressdemocrat.com to see the latest results from the 2022 General Election.

Huzzah for new mayors

In Windsor, voters were leaning toward a relative political newcomer over the old guard as Town Council member Rosa Reynoza led Vice Mayor Esther Lemus by nearly 20 percentage points in early returns. Reynoza will be the first woman to hold the office since the town began directly electing its mayors. Both candidates had pledged to rid the town of the shadow of former Mayor Dominic Foppoli, who resigned in 2021 after being accused of sexual assault and abuse by seven women. Read the latest on the election here.

In Petaluma, meanwhile, Kevin McDonnell appeared to be on his way to victory Wednesday morn with a more than 2 to 1 lead over his closest opponent, D’Lynda Fischer, in Petaluma’s mayoral race.

Though the two candidates had similar positions on the issues, Fischer focused largely on climate-change leadership, while McDonnell campaigned on the issues of homelessness, housing and improving city streets. For more, click here.

Props for the props

Despite an inflationary economy, Santa Rosa voters were on track to approve Measure H, which would extend a quarter-cent sales tax for another 20 years. The tax generates $10 million annually for city fire and police services and keeps the city’s sales tax at 9.25%. Here’s what we know so far.

And in Cloverdale, voters were on their way to joining every other Sonoma County municipality in banning the sale and use of fireworks. The proposition, known as Measure K, led 59% to 41% in early returns, much to the relief of firefighters and dogs countywide. Read more here.

Council members, take your seats!

In Santa Rosa, the most closely watched race got even more interesting over the weekend when District 4 candidate Henry Huang accused one of his three opponents, Terry Sanders, of trying to entice him to drop out of the race to avoid splitting the vote in favor of incumbent Victoria Fleming. In early returns Wednesday morning, Fleming and Sanders were separated by a little more than 120 votes, with Sanders running at about 40% and Fleming at 38%. Huang was running a distant third at about 20%, and Scheherazade “Shari” Shamsavari polling at 2%.

Meanwhile, political newcomers Mark Stapp in southeast District 2 and Jeff Okrepkie in District 6 in northwest Santa Rosa were cruising to their first council terms with dominant leads over their opponents. Stapp is looking to succeed longtime Council member John Sawyer and Okrepkie is seeking the seat held by Tom Schwedhelm, who, like Sawyer, is retiring. Here’s the deets.

In Rohnert Park’s city council races, incumbent council member Susan Hollingsworth Adams held a sizable lead over former council member and mayor Joe Callinan in District 5; incumbent Samantha Rodriguez, who was recently appointed to her seat, held a wide margin over Dave Soldavini in District 1; and political newcomer Emily Sanborn also held a strong lead in the three-way race to represent District 2. Click here for a deeper dive.

In Sebastopol, meanwhile, it’s anybody’s guess this morning. Fewer than 145 votes — or about 3 percentage points — separated the top and bottom of the five-person field in early returns for three at-large seats on the City Council. Here’s the skinny.

To find out about races in Petaluma, Sonoma and Healdsburg and elsewhere, we’ve got you covered here.

Status quo in the statehouse*

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but a heavily Democratic region returned a bunch of Democrats to the statehouse. You can get the full rundown here, but here’s the Cliff’s Notes version:

In state Senate District 2, Mike McGuire of Healdsburg, who holds the second most powerful position in the upper chamber, easily won a third term over Lake County Republican Gene Yoon by a 3-1 margin.

In Assembly District 2, incumbent Jim Wood was leading Charlotte Svolos by nearly 40 percentage points in a rematch of their 2020 race.

In Assembly District 4, veteran lawmaker Cecilia Aguiar-Curry bested Republican Bryan Pritchard, also by about 40 points.

*At least one Assembly race was hotly contested. In District 12, which covers Marin County and parts of Sonoma County, Marin County Commissioner Damon Connolly was holding an early lead over California Coastal Commissioner Sara Aminzadeh. Here’s the latest on that contest.

Back to Washington

The North Bay’s two representatives in Congress, Democrats Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson, cruised to easy victories to no one’s surprise. Each won by margins of almost 4-1. See complete story here.

Overheard

Our favorite quote of the night came not from a candidate, but from 18-year-old Isaiah Green, who not only was volunteering at a polling center as part of an economics and government class at Quest Forward Academy in Santa Rosa, but was also casting his first ballot.

“It feels good to influence the direction of the county,” the Sebastopol resident said. “My vote here matters more than in a presidential election since California is not really a swing state.”

Well said, Isaiah. Well said.