Quick Take
Tony Nuñez continues to maintain a large lead over incumbent Felipe Hernandez in the District 4 Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors race, but there still is a possibility for a November run-off if Nuñez dips below 50%.
Friday, 4 p.m. – Tony Nuñez continues to maintain a large lead over incumbent Felipe Hernandez in the District 4 Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors race, but there still is a possibility for a November run-off if Nuñez dips below 50%.
Nuñez had 50.18% of the vote (3,918 of 8,425 votes cast) while Hernandez had 30.8% (2,404 votes) and third-place Elias Gonzales 18.35% (1,433) as of Friday afternoon.
In order to outright win the District 4 seat, Nuñez would need a simple majority (50% of votes cast + 1). If no candidate reaches that threshold, the top two vote-getters head to a run-off election in November. The next update from the county clerk’s office will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday, with only about 650 votes left to be counted countywide.
The Santa Cruz County Clerk’s office added 6,865 ballots to the tally on Friday afternoon, bringing the total number of ballots counted to 86,438.
The early results on Election Day, June 2, came as a surprise for some closely watching the District 4 race. “It’s still early, but it is surprising to see an incumbent trail behind with this big of a gap,” said Watsonville City Councilmember Casey Clark.
What could have affected Hernandez in this race, Clark says, is the ongoing battery storage issue in South County and recent allegations that he removed one of his opponent’s campaign signs.
Hernandez has faced scrutiny from his constituents over the county’s handling of a local ordinance meant to regulate battery storage systems. Residents have also taken issue with Hernandez previously not taking a stance on a proposal to build a battery storage facility outside of Watsonville.
Despite no action being taken on the project, Clark added that residents in the Watsonville community are very passionate when it comes to the battery issue.
Hernandez did not respond to Lookout’s request for comment.
Clark added that it’s still possible that this race goes into a November run-off, based on the current numbers and looking back at the results in the 2022 election, when Hernandez first ran for county supervisor. In that primary, Hernandez was also trailing, but won the run-off election.
However, there are still a lot of votes left, Clark said, so it could still go either way.
Should Nuñez earn more than 50% of the vote and win the District 4 seat, which represents most of the Pajaro Valley, Watsonville and Interlaken, Hernandez could be the first incumbent supervisor to lose a reelection bid in the primary election in recent memory.
Hernandez’s predecessors on the board of supervisors, Greg Caput and Tony Campos, who both served multiple terms. Caput retired from public office and Campos lost his reelection bid to him in 2010.
While Nuñez has an early lead, he told Lookout late on Election Night – June 2 – that he was cautiously optimistic and acknowledged that the race might go into a run-off in November.
“It’s not over,” Nuñez said. “[We’re] still waiting to see, really, until the end of the week, when we’re really going to have a much clearer picture as to what the future looks like.”
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FOR THE RECORD: This story was updated to clarify that Tony Campos lost his reelection bid to Greg Caput in 2010, and did not voluntarily retire from public office.
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