Kimbley Craig leads for mayor, alongside two new councilmembers and one incumbent in Salinas.

While all eyes are on the two-way U.S presidential race, in Salinas five candidates are vying to become the next mayor, seeking an open seat that was held for eight years by Joe Gunter, who died in June. In that race, experienced politicians faced off against community activists, and Kimbley Craig, a former council member who previously served alongside Gunter, is in the lead based on early results, with 11,673 votes, or 39 percent of the total. 

She is the only woman in the five-way race, and is poised to become the city’s second woman mayor. Anna Caballero, now a state senator, was the first. 

“The city is at a crossroads,” Craig says, touting her experience. “I could step in and do the job seamlessly.” 

Trailing by 2,248 votes is Chris Barrera, a real estate agent and president of the local chapter of LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens). He garnered endorsements from the who’s who of left-leaning groups including the Monterey County Democratic Party, the Demoratic Women of Monterey County and Monterey County New Progressives PAC. He ran, he says, because he was tired of Salinas residents not being heard.

 “We need to have our priorities in line and be there for our children. It’s better to invest in them when they’re younger than when they’re older,” Barrera says, adding that City Hall is overspending on unnecessary projects, “beyond necessary projects in downtown that didn't need to be done. Especially right now that we are in Covid.”

In third place for the mayor’s seat, based on early reporting, is Ernesto Gonzalez, a former teacher and principal, and also a former council member who served from 2000-2002. 

Trailing in fourth place with 7.3 percent of the vote is Mike Lipe, who was endorsed by the county Republican Party and made his opposition to mask-wearing rules a central piece of his campaign platform, including videotaping himself getting escorted out of a cannabis dispensary for failure to wear a face covering. In fifth place with 4.8 percent of the vote is Wes White, an advocate for the homeless, whose campaign slogan has been, “Put people first.”

In three council races, only one incumbent, Scott Davis, is seeking reelection. In District 1, early returns show him in the lead, with 52 percent of the vote. In District 4, with incumbent Gloria De La Rosa retiring, businessman Orlando Osornio is in the lead over Albert Lomeli. Ray Montemayor, a Hartnell College trustee and recently retired city employee, trails in third place. 

In District 6, 21-year-old Anthony Rocha holds a substantial lead in the three-way race, with 48.7 percent of the vote. He was elected in 2018 to the Salinas Union High School District board, where he had to go through a round of budget cuts he says prepared him for the current downturn in Salinas.

The new councilmembers will need to hire a new city manager, and grapple with a health and economic crisis as Salinas has more than half of the 11,906 cases of Covid-19 confirmed in Monterey County.

If Craig wins, she is planning to tackle Covid-19 ”so that we can change our status with the state, and therefore, get business back up and running and people back to their jobs.”

She feels optimistic about the current outcome but is waiting on the final results. “Every ballot needs to be counted in order to feel that success. Hopefully I will be the new mayor elect,” she says.