Quick Take
Santa Cruz County has consistently turned out at a higher rate in primary elections than its neighboring counties and the statewide average. However, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, the county's former clerk, called the sub-50% turnout in the 2024 primary "very concerning."
From the driver’s seat of her car earlier this primary election cycle, Assemblymember Gail Pellerin flipped on the radio and heard what, to a former election clerk, sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard. For Pellerin, it was a noise that had, of late, become familiar.
“They were talking about how there was nothing exciting on the ballot this primary,” Pellerin said with an air of annoyance. “That was frustrating. Voting is not supposed to be a trip to Disney World. Don’t expect it to be fun and exciting, but it is your civic duty, up there with paying taxes and driving the speed limit.”
November general elections boast a much larger and more diverse turnout, but the chance to select a political party’s presidential nominee can bring out a more energized electorate during the presidential primary. However, by the time Super Tuesday approached, many analysts predicted that the inevitability of a 2020 presidential rematch would toss a wet blanket over turnout. In California, a once-in-a-generation U.S. Senate race and a confusing but hyped-up Proposition 1 couldn’t silence projections of a record-low turnout.
At 33.9% as of Saturday, statewide turnout was not unprecedentedly low, just the lowest since 31.1% of voters turned out in June 2012. That primary had a similar flavor to this year’s in that Barack Obama was an incumbent Democratic president and Mitt Romney had already been chosen as his opponent.
Yet, in Santa Cruz County, turnout for the March 5 primary will come in around 46% once the 650 remaining ballots are tallied, which marks the fourth-highest turnout rate of any California county with more than 150,000 registered voters, behind Marin, Placer and San Francisco. Among all 58 counties, Santa Cruz ranked 18th.
Santa Cruz County also outperformed its neighboring counties, San Benito, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Monterey, a trend the region has observed in each primary and most general elections since 2012.
Sean Dougherty, who ran an unsuccessful primary challenge against incumbent Rep. Jimmy Panetta, said a sense of attachment to the electoral system – as in, to what extent certain groups feel they are part of the system – can be a good indicator for turnout, as is the case with income and race.
However, Dougherty theorized that Santa Cruz County is uniquely situated as it has “some really good organizations” focused on turning out the vote.
“There are groups like Santa Cruz For Bernie, who are really good about arming people with literature, going door to door and bringing people into the system,” Dougherty said.
Jeffrey Smedberg, who leads Santa Cruz for Bernie, did not answer multiple calls for comment. Peggy Flynn, who co-leads the Democratic Women’s Club of Santa Cruz County, said her organization focuses on making early endorsements and walking precincts throughout the city and county to drop off pamphlets and engage the electorate.
“In general, we’re good about being informed and being involved, there is a real history here and a sense of participatory democracy and responsibility,” she said. Flynn, a 27-year resident of Santa Cruz, also works as an election day rover, rotating among voting centers to help poll workers.
Primary elections bring out a subset of likely voters, which tend to overindex as white, older, affluent and homeowners, according to a 2023 report from the Public Policy Institute of California. In this latest primary, the highest turnout as of Friday came from a group of precincts in the Ben Lomond and Olympia area in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where 67.6% of registered voters cast ballots, according to a report from the county clerk’s office. The lowest turnout, 18.7%, came from a block of precincts surrounding Watsonville High School and stretching toward the Pajaro River.
Yet, while Santa Cruz leads its neighboring counties in political engagement, Pellerin said she remains disappointed in the level of turnout.
“If this were a test, we’d be failing,” Pellerin said Friday. “We need to expect more. It’s not only a right, voting is a responsibility. We’ve removed every barrier to voting; the ballot is now sitting in your mailbox. When we have less than half the population actually voting, that is very concerning to me.”
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