Wendy Askew runs ahead of Steve McShane in the race for District 4 county supervisor.

For Salinas real estate agent Greg Hamer, the choice was easy. He voted for Salinas City Councilmember Steve McShane for the District 4 seat on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, not just because he considers McShane a friend, but because he says McShane has shown up in ways that competitor Wendy Root Askew hasn’t.

“He seems to really champion Salinas and the other communities,” Hamer writes, in response to a question about the candidates posted to social media. “I’m sure Wendy is nice, but I’ve never even seen her. Did she even campaign in Salinas?”

For retired graphic designer and yoga teacher Cindy Davis, the choice was also easy. She voted for Askew because Askew, a legislative analyst to current District 4 Supervisor Jane Parker, has deep experience in how county policy sausage is made.

“I voted for Wendy, even though she did not do much outreach in Salinas, because I trust Jane Parker as a mentor…and the blizzard of McShane campaign materials left my mailbox smelling like flop sweat,” she writes.

As of 10pm on Nov. 3—the second semi-official report of the night made by the Monterey County Elections Department—Askew was ahead of McShane. With 25,232 of the total votes counted, she had 13,581 compared to McShane’s 11,652. In all, according to Political Data Inc., 44,588 ballots were cast, meaning the race was by no means decided as of Tuesday night. 

It’s a bizarre race when it comes to geography. The majority of District 4 rests on the Monterey Peninsula, but includes a swath of the more moneyed—and more conservative—areas of South Salinas. Over the past few years, before he even announced his intent to run for the seat held by Parker, who lives in Marina, since 2008, McShane has inserted himself into Peninsula life, helping the conservative Compass Church in Salinas establish a location in Marina and changing party affiliations from Republican to Democrat. Backed by conservative business interests and having raised some $600,000 based on campaign funding reports, he’s been running a hard-charging ground game ever since.

Askew, meanwhile, has been more dogged and subtle in her approach. With an 8-year-old child in pandemic-era homeschooling, Askew has been balancing her day job, her parent job and her race to replace her boss, who opted for retirement over another shot at elected office.

“I’ve never been so proud of my neighbors in Monterey County for truly caring about important issues,” Askew said during an Election Day interview. “I knew people were paying attention and cared about the things I cared about, but to see them show up for those things has been awesome.”

Those things, she says, include taking care of each other during the pandemic, through programs that include All In Monterey, which helps distribute food and helps people access services, as well as paying attention to the Peninsula’s long standing water issues.

“I’ve been really transparent and this has been a hard year for my family—one of the hardest years of my life personally,” she says. “But dammit if I don’t walk away from it feeling strong and capable of whatever comes in this.”

McShane, whose campaign team knocked on 15,000 doors during the race, gathered his campaign staff, with social distancing protocols in place, at the location of his former plant nursery on Highway 68. 

In a Zoom event held for supporters, McShane appeared on screen with his wife and said he knew it would be a nail biter, but asked supporters to stay strong.

“We always knew it would be us making up ground,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m so proud of what we did…there’s two great candidates running and there’s a lot at stake.”