If San Mateo County voters had their way, Phil Angelides would be the next governor of California, and there would be hefty new taxes on cigarettes and oil extraction.
Contrary to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s statewide sweep, county voters favored Phil Angelides by 392 votes, according to election figures as of Nov. 13. The count was 79,740 for Mr. Angelides and 79,348 for Gov. Schwarzenegger. That’s a 0.2 percent difference. They also favored Propositions 86 and 87, which flamed out statewide.
Gov. Schwarzenegger may still retake San Mateo County, when the tallies from absentee ballots and provisional votes still being counted are completed. But in most state and national races, county voters participated in the overall Democratic sweep.
The election went smoothly in most precincts, as the county road-tested new eSlate voting machines, one or two at each precinct, but used mostly new paper ballots. The count, however, trickled in much more slowly than in previous years because of the paper ballots. The election night tally from all precincts wasn’t reported until after 3:30 a.m.
Late results will be posted Thursday, Nov. 16, at 3 p.m. and Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 3 p.m. on the county’s election Web site shapethefuture.org. Official election results will be certified and presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Dec. 5.
When all the votes are counted, Elections Manager David Tom expects turnout to be somewhat over 50 percent, about average for an off-year election. He also said he expects that more than half the votes will be absentee — a first for the county.
Eshoo in majority
With the Democratic sweep, local Congresswoman Anna Eshoo will be in the majority for the first time in 12 years. She was easily elected to an eighth term in the heavily Democratic 14th Congressional District with 71 percent of the votes.Besides gaining clout as a Democrat, Rep. Eshoo may also become chair of a Congressional subcommittee, a member of her Washington staff suggested. She serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and on its Intelligence Committee.
State offices
Assemblyman Ira Ruskin swept easily to victory in the 21st District despite an energetic challenge from Republican volunteer and businesswoman Virginia Chang Kiraly of Menlo Park. Mr. Ruskin received 67 percent of the votes.San Mateo County voters joined voters across California in electing a single Republican to statewide office. Steve Poizner, who lost to Mr. Ruskin in a bruising campaign for the Assembly two years ago, won the race for insurance commissioner.
Ballot measures
San Mateo County stands to benefit substantially from the $42 billion in bonds approved by California voters in five separate bond issues.Most visible locally are likely to be projects stemming from Proposition 1B, the $20 billion bond issue to improve transportation infrastructure including freeways and transit. Housing advocates also welcome passage of Proposition 1C, which will provide money toward new housing for working people and shelter for people in crisis.
Proposition 84 could also funnel funds for park, water and environmental projects in the Peninsula. It received 60 percent of the county vote, but only 54 percent statewide.
San Mateo County also rejected Proposition 90, the measure that would have required compensation to property owners for economic losses due to government regulations. It was rejected by 60 percent of county voters, and only 52.5 percent of state voters.
