news story / By North Coast Journal Staff

Election Results

Smith wins big; other contests too close to call

(June 5, 2008)   

It was one of the longest election nights in recent memory. And after the clock turned 12, two out of the three main races on the Humboldt County ballot were still up in the air.

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At press time — 12:30 a.m., Wednesday — First District Supervisor Jimmy Smith held an insurmountable lead against challenger John Vevoda, gaining a lopsided 71-23 victory with 80 percent of precincts counted.

Third District candidate Mark Lovelace had 51 percent of the vote — enough to win the election with no need for a runoff — against challenger Bryan Plumley’s 36 percent, with half the vote counted in that district.

Southern Humboldt’s Second District seemed wide open with only 4 out of 27 precincts counted. Still, challengers showed early strength against the deceased incumbent, Roger Rodoni, even though the bulk of the vote in Fortuna — in the past, a Rodoni stronghold — had not yet been tabulated.

“Looking at this list of candidates — I know all of them, and I’ve talked to all of them, and I know they’re working their hearts out right now,” said Smith, who spent the evening watching votes being counted at the Humboldt County Elections Office. “Anybody that goes through this has taken a large chunk of their lives out — forums, questions, taking positions on hard issues. It requires a lot of homework.”

It was one of the most important elections in years. A majority of the Board of Supervisors was up for vote, and two longtime incumbents were out of the race: Third District Supervisor John Woolley, who is stepping down, and Rodoni, who was tragically killed in an auto accident a little over a month before the election. The coming board is scheduled to make a decision that local governments in California make only once every 20 years — a revision to the “General Plan,” an all-encompassing document that guides development over the long term. In addition, the board will have to deal with crippling cuts stemming from a weak economy, high gas prices and a state budget in ruins.

Nevertheless, the political campaigning this time around was subdued, at least by Humboldt County standards. There was none of the intensity or fervor of recent key contests, such as the 2006 Fourth District supervisorial contest between incumbent Bonnie Neely and challenger Nancy Flemming, the 2004 and 2006 Eureka City Council elections or the recall and reelection campaigns of District Attorney Paul Gallegos. The amount money raised and spent was light this time around, with one exception: The Rodoni campaign raised over $70,000, much of it after the candidate’s death.

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