District 2 Supervisor John Phillips handily wins re-election bid against challenger Regina Gage.

At the election night party for County Supervisor John Phillips, which was held at his house in Prunedale, his supporters were in a cheerful mood before the first results came in, and smiled as they ate Round Table Pizza and giant strawberries and sipped on beer and Joyce wines.

Phillips, a 76-year-old retired judge and founder of Rancho Cielo Youth Campus, and who has served one term as a county supervisor, was also in high spirits, and relieved the campaign was over. In recent weeks, his opponent Regina Gage, in a campaign ad, likened Phillips to President Donald Trump, and a Gage campaign mailer accused Phillips of being anti-women.

“Saying the anti-women thing after all I did for the domestic violence council, after all the things I did, and to see my family have to endure that, it bothered me,” Phillips said. “But if [the voters] tell me it’s time to retire, I’m perfectly good with that. I’ve retired several times in my life.”

Phillips’ campaign manager Plasha Will was glued in front of a laptop, hitting refresh every few minutes after 8pm, waiting for the first election results to come in. Before the county elections website put them out, KSBW posted numbers on their website and Will exclaimed to Phillips, “59-41. And to be clear, you’re winning.”

Gage, the executive director of Meals on Wheels of the Salinas Valley, held her election night party at the IBEW Local 234 building in Castroville, the headquarters of the electricians’ union for the tri-county area. After the first results came in, the vibe was reserved, but friendly.

“This is the first round… We’re going to remain optimistic,” Gage said about the initial results. As for her campaign strategy, she said that with Phillips being the incumbent, “We have the right to discuss what he’s done and hasn’t done.”

With 16 percent of the vote tallied, Phillips was prevailing with 58 percent as of the Weekly’s deadline.