Quick Take
Ryan Coonerty and Ami Chen Mills have secured their places as the top two vote-getters in the Santa Cruz mayoral race and will compete in a run-off election in November. The candidates plan to reach more voters to continue garnering support in the coming months — after some rest, of course.
There are still ballots to be tallied, but the Santa Cruz mayoral race is clear: There will be a run-off in November.
As of Tuesday, Ryan Coonerty and Ami Chen Mills have received 47.9% and 20.4% of the votes cast, respectively. That puts both of them comfortably ahead of the third-place candidate, Joy Schendledecker, who has received 12.5%, and guarantees them one more contest for the seat in November.
Current Mayor Fred Keeley chose not to seek reelection after serving one four-year term.
Coonerty told Lookout on Monday that he is grateful for the broad-based support he received across every precinct in the city. He said he’s taking a rest for the time being, but preparing for the march to November.
“I’m lucky I have a lot of supporters rallying and ready to help with all the different pieces,” he said. “One of the frustrating things about the primary was that there was, in my view, a concerted effort to muddy the water. This will be a really clear choice for the community.”
Coonerty said there are still plenty of prospective voters to reach between now and November, adding that many in the community likely focus on their personal responsibilities and national politics more than local races.
“I think the insiders sometimes overestimate how much people are paying attention to city politics. Most folks are just starting to engage with the mayoral election and other city issues,” he said.
Aside from a winning Democratic Central Committee campaign and a District 3 county supervisor campaign in 2022 that saw her lose to both current Santa Cruz City Councilmember Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson and eventual winner Justin Cummings, this is Chen Mills’ only other campaign for a local elected seat. It’s been largely successful, forcing a run-off against a longtime politico and former city councilmember, mayor and county supervisor.
She, too, says she is grateful for the support thus far and for the team that worked on the campaign.
“You have someone who a lot of people thought would actually win the primary outright, and the fact that he hasn’t is the big news. I think what is surprising is how much people are looking for a change,” she said, pointing to the fact that the four candidates running against Coonerty received more votes in total than he did. “The community is looking for a change and I’m looking for a change.”
Chen Mills believes that “we have missed a huge voice in this community on the council,” and that she hopes to represent it as much as one person is able to.
Like Coonerty, Chen Mills is taking some time to rest, but says she’s looking forward to having more time for her campaign leading up to November, rather than the three rushed months before the primary election.
“Now we have time for a more expansive campaign,” she said. “We will need to build a strong coalition and a wide coalition in order to win in November.”
Coonerty said there’s plenty of work ahead over the next few months.
“November is a lifetime in politics these days, and it is going to require a full-blown campaign,” he said. “Not just by me, but by hundreds of friends and supporters who will be hopefully joining me to engage the community.”
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FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated to include that Ami Chen Mills has also run for the Democratic Central Committee.
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