Quick Take
Incumbent Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson has defeated Joy Schendledecker in Santa Cruz City Council's District 3.
Tuesday, March 19, 5:25 p.m. — Incumbent Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson will return to city council as the District 3 representative after scoring a comfortable victory over Joy Schendledecker. The latest returns had Kalantari-Johnson leading 2,259 votes to 987 against the former mayoral candidate, or 69% to 230%. Votes totaled 3,271.
Previous updates
Friday, March 15, 4:30 p.m. — Incumbent Santa Cruz City Councilmember Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson reaffirmed her comfortable victory over Joy Schendledecker in Friday’s update. The latest returns had Kalantari-Johnson leading 2,232 votes to 951 against the former mayoral candidate, or 69.58% to 29.64%. Votes totaled 3,208.
Monday, March 11, 4:30 p.m. — Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson has comfortably defeated her challenger, former mayoral candidate Joy Schendledecker. The latest returns had Kalantari-Johnson leading in votes 2,110 to 856, or 70.54% to 28.62%. Votes totaled 2,991.
Friday, March 8, 6:30 p.m. – Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson retained her large lead on her District 3 challenger, former mayoral candidate Joy Schendledecker, though Schendledecker did gain some ground — about 3 percentage points. The latest returns had Kalantari-Johnson leading 1,911 votes to 780, or 70.36% to 28.72%. Votes totaled 2,716.
Kalantari-Johnson told Lookout she’s “very happy” to see her maintain a strong lead over her opponent in both numbers and percentage. She said she will not declare victory until the votes are certified.
Wednesday, March 6, 2 a.m. – Incumbent Santa Cruz City Councilmember Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson led her challenger, former mayoral candidate Joy Schendledecker. The final returns had Kalantari-Johnson leading in votes 1,430 to 500, or 73.26% to 25.61%. Votes totaled 2,116.
On Tuesday night as returns trickled in, the candidates were a block apart at campaign gatherings at neighboring downtown pizza restaurants. Kalantari-Johnson was on hand at Pleasure Pizza on Pacific Avenue, with many local political stars, including former councilmembers Cynthia Mathews and Don Lane and California Assemblymember Gail Pellerin.
Before the first results were announced, Kalantari-Johnson said of her election day, “My day was great. It started out with a run, a beautiful sunrise, a rainbow. The cliffs were orange. It was really a great day.”
The current campaign is Kalantari-Johnson’s fourth local campaign, including a failed campaign for District 2 county supervisor in 2022, in which she saw an early lead against fellow councilmember Justin Cummings evaporate as the count went on. “It’s super early,” she said Tuesday evening. “As I know very well, results change. We won’t know until the last vote comes in. But I’m feeling pretty good.”
Schendledecker and her volunteer staff gathered at Woodstock Pizza on Front Street. Schendledecker ran in a losing effort for Santa Cruz mayor in 2022, falling to Fred Keeley. Before learning of any results Tuesday, she reflected on her city council campaign in District 3 and its differences to her past mayoral race, which covered the entire city.
“That was my first foray into local politics,” said Schendledecker, “and my competitor was so very high profile. I was really eager to learn and be part of the conversation and make sure that we have those necessary public dialogues. That was all part of this race, too, but I feel I have a fighting chance in this race. I was able to run a better campaign. I knew a lot more, and it was a much more manageable experience.”
District 3 on the Westside splits the Circles neighborhood and continues along Bay Street and part of Meder Street.
It is also home to West Cliff Drive. The iconic coastal road has been through a lot over the past year-plus, with erosion threatening parts of the pedestrian path and even the roadway. The city is putting together a 50-year vision for West Cliff Drive that could turn it into a one-way street.
First elected in 2020, Kalantari-Johnson has said her main objectives for a second term would be continuing work on homelessness, which has dropped 29% in the city over the past year, addressing the immediate and future needs of West Cliff Drive, and investing more money in youth services.
She has acknowledged that community polling data strongly suggests Santa Cruzans prefer that West Cliff eventually become a one-way street, but said that neighborhood traffic needs to be taken seriously. She also opposed Measure M, saying she believes that it will take longer to build housing the area desperately needs.
Schendledecker previously ran for office in 2022, when she campaigned for mayor against Fred Keeley.
She backed Measure M, arguing that introducing something like a community land trust could give the city more control over housing development. She also questioned how well the city is tracking data on what has happened to unhoused residents since the ban on large vehicles parking on city streets took effect in December.
Backed by progressives and labor unions, Schendledecker also campaigned on introducing a citywide workforce agreement to work through labor negotiations and increasing tenant protections.
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