Santa Cruz City Council: Newsome, Golder secure second terms following Friday update

Friday, 4 p.m. – Incumbents Scott Newsome and Renee Golder have each secured a second term on the Santa Cruz City Council, defeating challengers Hector Marin and Gabriella Noack, respectively, after the county clerk released another round of primary election results Friday afternoon.

Newsome had received 52.54% of the vote in District 4 (1,460 of 3,230 votes cast), maintaining his lead over Marin, who had received 46.63% of the vote (1,300 of 3,230 votes cast). Golder remained far ahead of Noack. She had received 64.18% of the vote in District 6 (1,953 of 3,230 votes cast) while Noack had received 35.2% of the vote (1,071 of 3,230 votes cast). The next update from the Santa Cruz County elections office is expected around 4 p.m. Tuesday, with only an estimated 650 votes left countywide.

“We’re happy to be here. We look forward to the community response,” Marin’s campaign manager, Dave Tannaci, told Lookout on June 2 at an Election Night watch party at Rosie McCann’s on Pacific Avenue. Newsome and Noack did not immediately return Lookout’s request for comment.

Golder told Lookout last week that she has not checked the results. In fact, she never does until 30 days after the election when it is certified.

“It’s out of my control,” she said, adding that she didn’t have a watch party or do any last-minute promotions on Election Day. “I did everything I could from January through yesterday. It’s out of my hands and it’s up to the voters now.”

Newsome is a UC Santa Cruz lecturer and has served one term on the council following his 2022 election victory. He had prevailed over Marin and another challenger, Greg Hyver, to represent District 4, covering downtown and part of the Westside bounded by High Street to the north and Bay Street to the west.

Marin is an English language development and special education classroom aide at Santa Cruz’s Harbor High School. He is running for city council for the third time in the past three election cycles.

Newsome has pointed to successes in building affordable housing throughout the district, protecting residents of the St. George Residences in downtown Santa Cruz from major rent hikes, securing more than $13 million in relief and recovery funding following the 2024 winter storms that damaged and partially collapsed the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, and various transportation improvements as some of the main reasons voters should support him for a second term.

Marin has focused his campaign on the high cost of living, and strives to bring transparency and inclusivity to the dais. He wants to work directly with residents to address the city’s most pressing issues, ease requirements for fully affordable housing projects, reduce red tape and push for rent stabilization.

Golder is the principal of the Westside’s Bay View Elementary School and the incumbent in District 6, which covers the lower Westside, the westernmost part of the upper Westside and part of the UC Santa Cruz campus. She is the Monterey Bay representative of the board of directors of the League of California Cities, where she has pushed state lawmakers to stop changes to building codes, and has also advocated for more workforce housing.

Noack is a graduating UC Santa Cruz senior, and has worked as a volunteer peer tutor, a volunteer teacher at the Watsonville jail and co-facilitating a technology program at local nonprofit Barrios Unidos that aims to teach vocational technology skills to people who were previously incarcerated. 

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FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated with comments from Santa Cruz City Council District 6 incumbent Renee Golder.

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