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Preliminary election results Tuesday night showed David Canepa leading Jim Irizarry in the race to head the San Mateo County’s Assessor, Clerk-Recorder and Chief Elections (ACRE) Office.
The office has been held by Mark Church since 2011 who decided not to run for reelection.
As of midnight on Wednesday, Canepa has 54.5%, while Irizarry has 45.5%, according to the San Mateo County Elections Division. Almost 80,000 votes for Tuesday’s race have been tallied, including 68,301 mail-in ballots and 9,876 vote center ballots.
Canepa, a county supervisor who used to lead the board, had just over 5,800 votes more than Irizarry, ACRE’s second in command, who has served the office since 2013.
“Hey — look — there’s more votes to be counted,” Canepa said. “But we’re in a position right now where we think we’re on a path to victory.”
Canepa received $246,590.50 in donations, with contributions from numerous labor unions like Service Employees International Union Local and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5.
Irizarry had over $130,000 in campaign funding, with at least $128,000 of it self-funded.
Canepa is currently serving in his third term on the Board of Supervisors, meaning that if he wins, he would leave his seat two years early. If elected, he said he will seek to “modernize this office and restore confidence in how it serves our community.”
Canepa said he was prompted to run for the seat because he believes morale inside ACRE is poor and the office needs new leadership. He described the office’s management as a “dumpster fire that needs to be extinguished” and called the workplace a “very, very toxic atmosphere.”
ACRE has received a barrage of allegations from former and current employees related to retaliation, discrimination and a workplace culture driven by fear, this news organization revealed in a recent investigation. Irizarry opponents point to these concerns as justification for the need for change, and why Canepa should be the guy.
Irizarry has denied such claims and defended his department, asserting that ACRE is committed to maintaining a “professional, respectful and collaborative work culture grounded in transparency and accountability.”
Irizarry’s endorsements include Church, who said Irizarry is the only candidate who is a state-certified property tax appraiser and who has administered over 35 elections, closed 13 property tax assessment rolls and expanded voter access to youth, seniors and underrepresented communities.
Find the latest vote tally on the County’s election page here, which does not yet include some vote by mail ballots from after May 29, as well as provisional ballots.
