Quick Take
Santa Cruz voters have approved Measure C, the housing advocate-supported ballot initiative, with more than 53% of the vote, while the competing Measure B, supported by local real estate interests, failed with just 11.9%. County officials continue counting ballots, with the next update on Friday at 4 p.m.
Both of the dueling groups behind two competing Santa Cruz affordable housing measures declared a winner after the latest vote count update on Thursday evening: Measure C.
Measure C, sponsored by City of Santa Cruz officials and housing advocates, earned more than 53% of the vote, widening its narrow victory with the latest vote totals released by the Santa Cruz County Clerk. Meanwhile, Measure B, sponsored by the local real estate industry, was projected for a loss with just 11.9% votes in favor.
Representatives from both campaigns told Lookout on Thursday that they agreed on the results of the vote: Measure C has passed while Measure B has failed.
Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley was joyful and almost without words Thursday evening. He initiated the affordable housing measure effort more than two years ago as a major part of his 2022 mayoral campaign.
“Finally, the right measure at the right time on affordable housing got in front of the voters, and the community coalesced behind that,” he told Lookout. “And I’m very proud of our community.”
Housing Santa Cruz County executive director Elaine Johnson, a leading organizer behind the measure, told Lookout on Thursday that she was very happy.
“I’m just basking in where we are,” she said. “Because, we prepared.”
Victor Gomez, government affairs director for the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors, which backed Measure B, told Lookout he congratulated the mayor on his victory.
“We both ran very strong and I think very honest campaigns and we let the voters decide,” he wrote via text. “We are more than accepting of the results and look forward to working with the city of Santa Cruz on all housing matters.”
The two sides acknowledged the results of the vote even though there are still 17,615 ballots left to tally countywide, according to Santa Cruz County Clerk Tricia Webber’s office, or slightly less than 17% of the total ballots cast. Votes left to count included 13,600 mail-in ballots received on Election Day, 1,700 vote-by-mail ballots received by deadline or from other California counties, 1,800 same-day registrations, 115 provisional ballots and 110 damaged ballots. Webber’s office could not provide details on how many of the outstanding ballots were from voters in the city of Santa Cruz.
So far, a total of 19,020 city votes have been counted for the two affordable housing measures.
Voters in Santa Cruz County also continued to strongly support Proposition 50, with yes votes totalling 77.2% of the local ballots counted by 4 p.m. Thursday. The measure easily passed statewide, with nearly 64% of the vote.
Locally, with 104,610 ballots cast among 173,331 registered voters, the special election drew a turnout of about 60% across the county.
The next update on the results is scheduled for Friday at 4 p.m.
More on affordable housing measures
Keeley kicked off the effort to generate support for an affordable housing bond in 2022. Johnson took the reins a year or so later. She and a steering committee of about 10 people led the community initiative to get the measure on the ballot.
The committee and city officials organized meetings, discussions and negotiations with a variety of Santa Cruz stakeholders, including landlords, renters, UC Santa Cruz students and real estate industry professionals to draft the measure. Keeley, Johnson and the organizers originally hoped to have it on the March 2024 special election ballot but delays led them to the 2025 election.
In a move that shocked Santa Cruz officials and housing advocates, the Santa Cruz County Association of Realtors announced a competing measure, Measure B, in March. The group’s goal was to defeat the city’s measure. On Tuesday, Gomez said the realtors were happy they “provided the voters an option.”
Measure C, called the Workforce Housing Affordability Act of 2025, asked voters to approve a $96 annual parcel tax and a graduated real estate transfer tax on home sales above $1.8 million. The measure caps the total transfer tax at $200,000 per transaction, and aims to raise $4.5 million a year.
The Workforce Housing and Climate Protection Act of 2025, Measure B, is named and structured similarly. The measure proposes a lower parcel tax at $50 and imposes a lower transfer tax capped at $100,000 per transaction for home sales above $4 million. The measure estimates raising just $1.1 million a year, far less than Measure C.
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