About 50 people are gathered in the courtyard of the Kimpton Mirador Hotel in downtown Pacific Grove just after 8pm on Tuesday, Nov 3, sipping wine and munching on French fries and charcuterie while waiting for local election results. Although they were there to support Mayor Nick Smith, running for a second term against former councilmember Luke Coletti in a nonpartisan race, they are in a good mood as more Democrats nationally were reported to win seats in the House and Senate.
As the minutes wore on with no Monterey County results forthcoming, Smith stood with his family, watching a large monitor and waiting. Councilmember Tina Rau sat at a nearby table with her iPad, constantly hitting the refresh button hoping for the first tallies to appear.
When the first results flashed on the monitor more than 20 minutes later, the crowd erupted in shouts and hollers. Smith had a commanding lead with 57 percent of the vote. As of Wednesday, Nov. 4, he had 3,057 votes over Coletti’s 2,339.
Next came results in District 1 followed by more shouts of approval, where the incumbent, Councilmember Cynthia Garfield, an ally of Smith’s, is ahead of challenger Kevin Hanley, 522 to 444. The crowd was also buoyed by results in District 3, where Tara Leweling leads in a three-way race with 312 votes, or 43 percent. Andrew Kubica had 274 votes for 38 percent, and Susan Goldbeck attracted 140 votes, just over 19 percent.
Incumbent Lori McDonnell, running for a two-year, at-large seat as the P.G. City Council phases in district-based elections, won her race easily against James Ogle, who did not campaign. She had 4,216 votes to Ogle’s 696, for 86 percent as of Nov. 4.
“This is a mandate, folks,” Rau told the crowd. “Pacific Grove needs to be progressive. We showed tonight we are progressive and we are going to move forward.” She later pointed out that if the leads hold, the P.G. Council will be majority women, possibly a first in the town’s history.
In the mayor’s race, Coletti outspent Smith by nearly $9,000, with an outlay of $20,406 to Smith’s $11,508. Coletti used the $20,600 he raised, including over $13,000 in loans to his own campaign, to send out mailers and text messages to voters.
Smith relied on walking neighborhoods. He estimates he visited about 1,000 homes, joined often by councilmember-elect Chris Thomas, a newcomer who ran unopposed in District 5.
“We had a lot of great results tonight and I’m really excited about the future,” Smith told supporters. “We’re going to do some great things this term.”
Measure R leads with 70 percent of the vote, which will raise the sales tax by 0.375, taking it from 9.25 percent to 9.625 percent.
In the race for Pacific Grove Unified School District’s District 1 seat, former P.G. councilmember Dan Miller leads with 415 votes, or 37 percent. Chuck Brinker had 361 votes for 32 percent. Stephen Bennett had 338 votes, for just over 30 percent, as of 2:20am on Wednesday, Nov. 4.