Local Republicans split their support for presidency
Tiburon Peninsula voters have helped send Congressman Adam Schiff and former baseball great Steve Garvey to a November runoff for the U.S. Senate, while Belvedere and Tiburon Republicans were split in their support of Nikki Haley and Donald Trump in the March 5 presidential primary.
Former President Trump will handily defeat Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, to win California’s delegates toward his party’s nomination, with about 79% support from Republicans statewide and 61% in Marin as of March 8, the latest results available at The Ark’s press time.
Haley, who suspended her campaign after a poor showing across 15 states on Super Tuesday, was the runner-up, with 18% statewide and 34% Marin Republican support in the nine-way race, respectively.
Further breakdowns so far show Tiburon Republicans backed Trump 55% to 41%, but Belvedere flipped that, turning out for Haley at 56% to Trump’s 42%.
Meanwhile, incumbent President Joe Biden has 90% support among Democratic voters statewide, the same as in Belvedere. He has 94% support from Democrats across Marin and in Tiburon.
Mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day will continue to be accepted until March 12, after The Ark’s press deadline, with Marin election officials saying it could take several more days for all votes to be tallied.
Some 48,500 ballots had been counted with about 42,500 remaining, Marin Registrar of Voters Lynda Roberts said last week, predicting turnout of about 50%.
U.S. senator: No incumbent
Federal official, all California voters
Burbank Democrat Schiff and Republican Garvey will advance to November runoffs in separate races to finish the term, through Jan. 3, of late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and to take over the Democrat’s seat for the next six years. In the interim, the job’s been filled by Democrat Laphonza Butler, who was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October.
California’s top-two open primary sends the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, to the general-election ballot.
Garvey’s on track to win the primary for the short-term seat, Schiff the long term, with each getting about a third of the vote statewide in both races. Belvedere backed Schiff 54% to 25% for the full-term job, Tiburon 57% to 18%.
But elsewhere in Marin, U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, was the runner-up in both primaries, getting about 19% support for the full-time role to Schiff’s 54% and Garvey’s 15%.
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, was a distant fourth locally, in Marin and statewide in both races. Her backers and Porter’s will likely consolidate around Schiff in November to keep the seat under Democratic control.
U.S. representative: Incumbent Jared Huffman
Federal official, California District 2 voters
San Rafael Democrat Jared Huffman is seeking his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives and will likely face Republican small-business owner Chris Coulombe in the November runoff.
Huffman has about 73% of the districtwide vote to Coulombe’s 17%. The gap was larger in Marin, with Huffman getting about 81% support to Coulombe’s 13%. Coulombe found greater backing in Belvedere, at 22% to Huffman’s 70%. Tiburon backed Huffman 77% to 17%.
State Assembly: Incumbent Damon Connolly
California official, District 12 voters
Another San Rafael Democrat, state Assemblyman Damon Connolly, has locked in a spot on the November ballot to keep his seat, with some 77% of the vote districtwide.
The race to challenge him was too close to call, with 1,500 votes separating Republicans Andrew Podshadley, a Novato businessman, in second with 13% of the vote and Eryn Cervantes, a San Quentin State Prison correctional officer, getting 11%.
Connolly has about 80% support in Marin to Podshadley’s 12% and Cervantes’s 8%.
Podshadley had a stronger showing in Tiburon, at 16% to Connolly’s 75%, and even stronger in Belvedere, at 21% to 70%.
Proposition 1: Bonds for mental-health treatment facilities
State initiative, all California voters
By a thin margin, California voters are in favor of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $6.38 billion plan to create supportive housing and treatment options aimed at unhoused residents with serious mental illness.
It had 50.4% of the vote statewide, with more than 63% support in Marin, 62% in Tiburon and 57% in Belvedere.
The initiative stems from 2004’s voter-approved Mental Health Services Act, or Proposition 63, which imposed a new 1% tax on those making more than $1 million a year for mental-health services.
Proposition 1 wouldn’t generate new revenue, but it would reduce counties’ 95% share of Proposition 63 revenue to 90%, and the state would use its 10% share to repay the new bonds.
Other local races
• District 3 Marin supervisor: After going unchallenged, Stephanie Moulton-Peters will retain her seat representing Southern Marin, including Tiburon, Belvedere and Strawberry.
• District 3 Marin Republican Central Committee: In the seven-way, pick-four race, candidates Diane Tallen and T.J. Nelsen have votes on 73% of ballots, followed by John Turnacliff at 71%. William McLaughlin is on track to win the fourth seat at 62%, ahead of Ben Wolinsky, 51%, by about 70 votes.
Reach Kevin Hessel at 415-435-2652.