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Election Day finally arrives next Tuesday (March 5). Time to get those vote-by-mail ballots to the post office or certified drop-box, or figure out plans for visiting a polling place.
Though it’s nowhere as busy as the November general election will be, the Tri-Valley has plenty to be decided on this primary ballot.
At the hyper-local level, Pleasanton, Livermore and Dublin voters will elect three full seats (from four candidates) and one partial term (a two-woman contest) on the Zone 7 Water Agency Board of Directors.
Vying for the four-year positions are current Zone 7 directors Sandy Figuers, Laurene Green and Kathy Narum as well as challenger Alan Burnham, a retired Livermore Lab chemist. Competing for the two-year term are newcomers Cathy Brown of Pleasanton and Seema Badar of Dublin, hoping to complete the full term vacated by Olivia Sanwong and filled temporarily by appointment by Narum.
Many Pleasanton residents will join neighbors to the west in voting for Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 4 between six-term incumbent Nate Miley and progressive challenger Jennifer Esteen, a nurse and former member of the Alameda Health System Board of Trustees.
District 1 Supervisor David Haubert, who represents the rest of the Tri-Valley in Alameda County, went unopposed this year. In the out-of-area contest, nine candidates are battling to succeed District 5 Supervisor Keith Carson – that seat is very likely headed for a two-person runoff in November because any one candidate would be hard-pressed to get over 50% on their own in March with such a crowded field.
In Contra Costa County, Supervisor Candace Andersen of the San Ramon Valley is unopposed, as is Supervisor Diane Burgis in District 3. Four candidates seek to replace retiring Supervisor Federal Glover in the north-county District 5.
Temporary Judge Michael Johnson and current Court Commissioner Mark Fickes square off for a permanent seat on the Alameda County Superior Court bench.
Retired county prosecutor and former district attorney candidate Terry Wiley is uncontested on the ballot for the other open superior court seat, which will leave him with an interesting choice in the months ahead as he recently started a job as the inaugural inspector general for the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department of Accountability.
Alameda County voters will also decide two ballot issues, with simple majority prevailing: Measure A on reducing the job announcement posting period for county positions from 25 days down to 14, and Measure B on updating county recall regulations to align with state law.
Of the four state legislative seats across the Tri-Valley, the most interesting will be the wide-open race for newly redrawn State Senate District 5, which includes Pleasanton, Dublin and Livermore. Among Assemblyman Carlos Villapudua (D-Stockton), former congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) and businessman Jim Shoemaker (R-San Joaquin County), the top two vote-getters – regardless of party or percentage – will qualify for a November runoff.
For State Senate District 9, including the San Ramon Valley, outgoing Assemblyman Tim Grayson and first-term San Ramon City Councilwoman Marisol Rubio (both Democrats) will automatically advance to November.
Likewise for what is now the third election rematch for the State Assembly District 16 between incumbent Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) and businessman Joe Rubay (R-Alamo) to represent the vast majority of the Tri-Valley.
The remaining sliver of the west sides of Pleasanton and Dublin are in Assembly District 20, where first-term Democrat Liz Ortega is unopposed.
Registered Democrats and Republicans also have a slew of local central committee seats to choose from.
At the federal level, U.S. Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Livermore) and Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) have a group of unheralded political candidates against them for their respective districts, which include the Tri-Valley.
For Swalwell’s District 14, there are Republican challengers Alison Hayden, Vin Kruttiventi and Luis Reynoso. For District 10, DeSaulnier faces Republicans Nolan Lee Chen and Katherine Piccinini as well as Mohamed Elsherbini and Joe Sweeney, who each has no party preference.
Both contests will go to a two-person runoff regardless of percentages.
All California voters will help decide one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats, a contest that seems destined for a runoff between two of the most prominent candidates: Democratic U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff (a Monte Vista High alum) and Republican Steve Garvey, a retired baseball pro who played for both the Dodgers and Padres in Southern California.
Dare I even mention the presidential race, where Biden-Trump Part II appears inevitable?
Oh, and remember to read up on California’s Proposition 1, which would authorize $6.38 billion in bonds to build mental health facilities and provide housing for those facing homelessness.
For local coverage before, during and after the primary, go to pleasantonweekly.com/election.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly.
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