Rent control passed in Santa Cruz and Watsonville in November, and other election map stories

Election season is often one of numbers, math and fractions. In the weeks following the official vote certification on Dec. 3, Lookout has been building a set of maps to help tell a more visual story of how the November election shook out locally. To calculate how locals voted is one thing, to see it offers something else entirely.

Using voter precinct data provided by the Santa Cruz County Clerk’s Office, we mapped how each of the county’s 196 combined precincts voted in what we considered November’s major elections. Through the maps, several stories emerge, such as how Santa Cruz and Watsonville voters supported a statewide rent control measure that failed everywhere else; Donald Trump’s popularity increased throughout the county; and how the races for county supervisor came down to geography. With the exception of Santa Cruz and Bonny Doon, voters throughout the county supported increased penalties for theft crimes, and South County’s agricultural region had its own opinions on raising the minimum wage. 

Statewide propositions

Despite decades of failed attempts to pass a local rent control measure, city of Santa Cruz voters narrowly supported Prop 33, the statewide rent cap proposal, by 446 votes. Watsonville voters also backed Prop 33, by 389 votes. All other local jurisdictions rejected the proposal, however, leading to only 43.3% support across the county. Statewide, Prop 33 went down in flames: 60% of voters opposed  it, and it couldn’t find majority support in one of California’s 58 counties. 

Support for rent control in Santa Cruz and Watsonville comes as both cities are pushing to revamp their downtowns and make their housing markets more renter-friendly. Whether these numbers inspire a conversation in either jurisdiction remains to be seen. 

Prop 6, which sought to eliminate a law that allowed the state to force prisoners into involuntary labor, failed statewide but overwhelmingly passed in Santa Cruz County, with 56.6% support. Yet, within Santa Cruz County, opinions on whether to end involuntary labor at state prisons varied by geography. The area around Scotts Valley, as well as the rural and agricultural regions in South County, rejected the propositions, while almost everywhere else, save for a few pockets in the Santa Cruz Mountains, supported it. 

Prop 32, which pushed to raise the minimum wage to $18 per hour, was another example of a proposal that failed statewide but found major support in Santa Cruz County, where 61.9% of voters backed it. The South County area around Interlaken and near Corralitos said no, but nearly everywhere else said yes.  

Statewide, the big story was the landslide victory for Prop 36, the proposal to increase penalties for theft crimes that won in all 58 counties. However, Santa Cruz County’s 53.4% support for the measure was among the narrowest in the state. 

Before the election, Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley, expecting Prop 36 to easily pass in Santa Cruz County and the city of Santa Cruz, told Lookout that the city would need to reassess its progressive identity if it supports the law-and-order measure. 

Not so fast — the city of Santa Cruz was the only jurisdiction in the county to reject Prop 36, and it wasn’t close. According to the clerk’s precinct data, 57.3% of city of Santa Cruz voters turned down the proposition. 

President of the United States

No one was surprised to see Santa Cruz County awash in blue: Kamala Harris carried 74.8% of the vote, as decades of Democrats have here. However, Donald Trump’s popularity has continued to grow over the past three presidential elections. In November, he secured 20.7% of Santa Cruz County votes, the highest mark for any Republican candidate since George W. Bush received more than 24% of the vote in 2004. An eastern pocket of South County, near Mount Madonna, heavily favored Trump, but what’s most notable is how narrowly Harris won much of the agricultural areas around Watsonville. Trump also secured pockets near Ben Lomond. 

District 2 and District 5 county supervisor

For many, the race between Kristen Brown and Kim De Serpa for District 2 county supervisor was a toss-up in the months leading up to election day. De Serpa would eventually eke out a narrow victory that took weeks to call because the margin was so close. 

While few had a good idea of how the race would shake out, they knew it would be a game of geography. Brown, who spent 2024 as the mayor of Capitola, was presumed to easily win in that city and around its edges, while De Serpa’s three decades in Aptos gave her an advantage there. Yet, as the map shows, De Serpa went on to take all but two of the precincts south of Seacliff and the entire rural sphere of the Mid County district. 

Heading into the runoff election, the question in District 5 was whether Monica Martinez could maintain her momentum from the March primary, in which she earned nearly 50% of the vote and almost won the seat outright, a significant achievement in a field of four. 

Martinez would go onto win 56.6% of the vote over Christopher Bradford in November. Yet, as the map shows, large swaths of the Santa Cruz Mountains district supported Bradford, particularly around his home base in Boulder Creek, around the Summit and even near Martinez’s home of Felton. Although Bradford owned some big islands, it was ultimately in a sea of Martinez support throughout the district. 

Martinez placed CZU wildfire recovery atop her platform, and Boulder Creek remains one of the most devastated areas. In fighting for a faster recovery, she will be fighting to primarily help an area that did not support her candidacy. 

Measure Z, the city of Santa Cruz soda tax

Santa Cruz voters passing Measure Z in November against a nearly $2 million opposition campaign from the American Beverage Association was the story of the election. Although the vote margin was narrow — 52.4% support — the map shows the measure won in nearly every precinct with the exception of a pocket in Seabright and a swath around DeLaveaga Park. Support was strongest near downtown and close to the UC Santa Cruz campus.

One of the stories we’re watching in 2025 is how the city moves forward with this tax. A lawsuit is all but guaranteed from the American Beverage Association, which has argued the 2-cents-per-fluid-ounce distribution tax is illegal.

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