THIRD UPDATE:
The final Election Night report added more than 2,000 ballots to the ongoing tally, bringing the total counted so far to 20,258, but did not move the needle in any local race.
The county’s supervisorial incumbents all continue to hold comfortable leads, with Rex Bohn currently holding 64 percent of the vote in the First District, Michelle Bushnell leading with 58 percent of the vote in the second district and Mike Wilson running away with 81 percent in the Third District.
The race for a seat on the Humboldt Superior Court bench, meanwhile, has embattled incumbent Greg Kreis trailing challenger April Van Dyke with 40 percent to Van Dyke’s 60 percent.
Measure A, the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative, meanwhile is being rejected decisively, with 73 percent of ballots counted so far falling in the no column.
SECOND UPDATE:
Election results continue to trickle out of the Humboldt County’s elections office, with the night’s third report adding just 515 ballots to the ongoing tally, bringing the total counted thus far to 18,233 and leaving local races largely unchanged.
The county’s supervisorial incumbents all continue to hold comfortable leads, with Rex Bohn currently holding 64 percent of the vote in the First District, Michelle Bushnell leading with 58 percent of the vote in the second district and Mike Wilson running away with 82 percent in the Third District.
The race for a seat on the Humboldt Superior Court bench, meanwhile, narrowed a bit, with embattled incumbent Greg Kreis now trailing challenger April Van Dyke with 39 percent to Van Dyke’s 61 percent.
Measure A, the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative, meanwhile is being rejected decisively, with 73 percent of ballots counted so far falling in the no column.
UPDATE:
The county’s second Election Night report added 621 ballots to the ongoing tally, bringing it to 17,718, but did little to move the needle in any race.
The county’s supervisorial incumbents all continue to hold comfortable leads, with Rex Bohn currently holding 64 percent of the vote in the First District, Michelle Bushnell leading with 58 percent of the vote in the second district and Mike Wilson running away with 83 percent in the Third District.
The race for a seat on the Humboldt Superior Court bench, meanwhile, narrowed ever so slightly, with embattled incumbent Greg Kreis now trailing challenger April Van Dyke with 39 percent to Van Dyke’s 61 percent.
Measure A, the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative, continues to go up in smoke, with 73 of ballots counted so far cast against the measure.
PREVIOUSLY:
The Humboldt County Elections Office has released its first Election Night report, with some 17,000 ballots counted.
The early returns have the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative, also known as Measure A, which seeks to overhaul cannabis cultivation regulations countywide, trailing heavily, with 73 percent of votes counted thus far falling against the measure, with just 27 percent for.
Proponents have argued the measure — which would cap the number of cultivation permits and the size of new grows, while adding additional noticing and oversight provisions — is necessary to put more teeth in existing regulations, protecting the environment and communities from negative impacts. Opponents, including members of the cannabis industry and a large swath of elected officials, have argued the initiative — which can only be modified by future initiatives — would have dire consequences for local farms, limiting their ability to adapt to changing market dynamics, while placing an added layer of onerous restrictions to what’s already the most highly regulated agricultural crop in the state.
Embattled Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Greg Kreis’ efforts to win a second term on the bench, meanwhile, face an uphill battle early, with initial returns showing challenger April Van Dyke leading with 61 percent of the votes cast thus far.
Appointed to the bench in 2017 by then Gov. Jerry Brown, Kreis faces a 19-count ethics complaint dropped by the state Commission on Judicial Performance, which oversees California’s judges, just a month before Election Day. The complaint accuses Kreis of a swath of ethics lapses — including illicit drug use, groping women, dishonesty and failing to recuse himself from cases in which he had a conflict — but Kreis has denied all the most serious allegations, saying they are the product of a bitter divorce and disgruntled former employees.
On the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors’ front, incumbents are running away with the races early. In the First District, three-term incumbent Rex Bohn has jumped out to a commanding lead over challengers U.S. Coast Guard veteran Gordon Clatworthy and Fields Landing resident Jerry McGuire, with Bohn taking 64 percent of the initially tally, trailed by Clatworthy’s 25 percent and McGuire’s 12 percent.
Over in the Second District, incumbent Michelle Bushnell is currently fending off challenges from local business owner and Fortuna school board member Jeana McClendon and cannabis entrepreneur Brian D. Roberts, taking 58 percent of the vote to McClendon’s 36 percent and Roberts’ 6 percent.
Up in the Third District, meanwhile, incumbent Mike Wilson appears to be cruising toward his third term, having taken 83 percent of the early vote to challenger and dispensary owner Roy Gomez Jr.’s 17 percent.
The first election report of the night comprises solely vote by mail ballots that arrived at the Humboldt County Elections Office and early voting ballots cast before Election Day, representing just a fraction of the total ballots that will be counted. Votes cast today will continue to be tabulated throughout the night, with a final Election Night report expected around midnight. From there, elections staff will continue to tabulate late-arriving vote by mail ballots, those dropped off at the polls and provision ballots cast, an effort that will extend for weeks, with post-election reports issued weekly, before the official results are certified.
This article appears in ‘The Ends of Justice’.
