Nau widens slight lead in tightest Petaluma council race

Updated election results released Tuesday have widened Karen Nau’s lead ever so slightly in the District 3 race for Petaluma City Council, but a week after Election Day the race was still too close to call.

Tuesday’s ballot dump – which represents the largest batch of votes processed and posted since election night – left Nau with a lead of 37.7% of the vote, followed by John Hanania with 33.3% and Robert Conklin with 29.1% out of 1,972 total votes counted.

Meanwhile, the new results increased John Shribbs’ lead in the District 2 City Council race to a solid 54.5% of the vote compared to David Adams’ 38.8% and Bobb Kosoff’s 6.6% out of 2,560 total votes counted.

Petaluma’s District 1 City Council race was decided soon after Election Day, when Janice Cader Thompson took a wide lead over her opponent Dylan Lloyd. As of Tuesday, Cader Thompson had 68.9% of the vote compared to Lloyd’s 31.1% with 2,145 total votes counted.

The race for Petaluma’s new mayor was also decided relatively quickly, and as of Tuesday the declared winner, Kevin McDonnell, had 55.4% of the vote compared to D’Lynda Fischer’s 24.5%, Patrick Flower’s 12% and Susan Kirk’s 8.1% with 15,066 total votes counted. Fischer confirmed last week to the Argus-Courier that she had conceded in that race.

Deva Proto, Sonoma County’s election chief, said Tuesday an estimated 60,000 ballots countywide were left to be processed, which would put turnout at about 66%.

Don Frances is editor of the Petaluma Argus-Courier. Reach him at don.frances@arguscourier.com.