With the dust still settling on an historic and stunning national election that saw an all-encompassing blue wave sweep across the country, several local races are still too close to call.
As of Nov. 6, according to a release from the Humboldt County Elections Office, about half of the known ballots cast — 24,463 as of that date — remained to be tallied, the vast majority vote-by mail, or 23,096. Rounding out the rest were 1,096 provisional ballots, 20 from voting locations and 251 described as “left to cure,” which could be due to a range of possible reasons, including the return envelope missing a signature or with one that doesn’t match what’s on file.
But, the release notes, “all valid vote-by-mail ballots will be counted regardless of the outcome or closeness of any race if they were postmarked by Tuesday, Nov. 3, and were received by Tuesday, Nov. 10.”
Additional results are slated to be released each Wednesday and Friday by 5 p.m., according to the elections office, leading up to the final certification on Dec. 3.
A handful of races were already settled even before Election Day arrived.
The cities of Rio Dell, Fortuna and Trinidad each had a matching number of candidates to open council seats — as did the mayoral position in Ferndale — so those are said and done, other than the final count.
While — as noted above — vote totals are all but guaranteed to change to some extent across the board by the time this paper hits the stands, here’s a look at where results were trending as of the Nov. 5 first post-election report, the latest available before the Journal’s publication deadline on Tuesday.
Of the county’s contested council races, some were emerging as tight ones.
That includes in Blue Lake, where — as readers may remember — candidates Adelene Jones and Kat Napier ended up with 245 votes each when the final cumulative report came out back in 2024. And that was after the previous week’s post-election results also had them tied. In the end, a random drawing resolved the matter, with Napier taking the seat.
The next year, residents upset with actions taken by the new council majority launched a recall campaign against Napier, John Sawatzky and Elise Scafani. Only the petition against Scafani moved forward, resulting in this January’s recall election — the first to take place in the county in two decades — but ultimately fell short of the needed votes.
Now Jones and Scafani are back on the ballot, along with two other candidates for the two open seats to represent the bucolic town, with the four bundled pretty closely together as they vie for a place at the dais.
Speaking of ties, Fortuna’s Measure D — an additional 0.75 percent sales tax proposal to fund essential city services — was in a dead heat in the Nov. 5 preliminary results, with votes in support and against at exactly 1,046 a piece. But, again, those numbers are subject to change.
Conversely, Arcata’s Measure G, which will extend that city’s local sales tax of the same amount, was receiving overwhelming nods of approval, as was a similar one in Eureka.
On the council side, incumbent Kimberly White pulled ahead early for an encore term while hopefuls Genevieve Serna and Abigail “Abbie” Strickland were separated by 11 votes to take the second open seat in the six-person race.
In Eureka, Mayor Kim Bergel had a solid lead of just more than 65 percent over the two competitors looking to unseat her. Same for Ward 1 Councilmember Victor E. Garcia Jr., clocking in at nearly 60 percent in a three-person race, and Jeff Leonard, who was just over that mark in his bid for a return stint on the council in a two-candidate contest for Ward 5.
In a closer race, Ward 3 incumbent G. Mario Fernandez was separated by 48 votes from challenger Janelle Jackson.
Out in Ferndale, incumbent Councilmember Jennifer Fisk-Becker was sitting at nearly 50 percent while fellow colleague Stephen Avis was 12 votes behind newcomer Brent Chase for the second open seat.
Meanwhile, fire protection-related measures were seeing wide support in Ferndale and Petrolia, but not so for the Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District Bond Measure K, which was trailing behind on the super-majority vote needed for passage.
Still, there are a lot of ballots remaining on the table — and it’s not clear exactly where those are from and what races might be impacted in the two updates slated for this week and beyond. (Visit northcoastjournal.com for newly released results.)
Here’s a glimpse at where things were standing on the local level as of Nov. 5.
City Councils:
Arcata City Council (two seats)
Reese Halter — 594 votes (11.65 percent)
Kimberley White — 1,464 (28.80 percent)
Daniel John Shahin — 507 votes (9.97 percent)
Genevieve Serna — 915 votes (18 percent)
Abigail “Abbie” Strickland — 926 votes (18.22 percent)
Blase Bonpane — 677 votes (13.32 percent)
Blue Lake City Council (two seats)
Verda Winona N. Pitts — 104 votes (23.53 percent)
Adelene Jones — 113 votes (25.57 percent)
Elise G. Scafani — 105 votes (23.76 percent)
Charis Bowman — 120 votes (27.15 percent)
Mayor of Eureka
Anil Dwivedi — 810 votes (19.57 percent)
Casey Dresser — 621 votes (15 percent)
Kim Bergel — 2,709 votes (65.43 percent)
Eureka City Council, Ward 1 (one seat)
Audra Sisson — 95 votes (16.67 percent)
Victor E. Garcia Jr. — 341 votes (59.82 percent)
Jason Mccutcheon — 134 votes (23.51 percent)
Eureka City Council, Ward 3 (one seat)
Janelle Jackson — 495 votes (47.69 percent)
G Mario Fernandez — 543 votes (52.31 percent)
Eureka City Council, Ward 5 (one seat)
Kathy Herrera — 257 votes (39.30 percent)
Jeff Leonard — 397 votes (60.70 percent)
Mayor of Ferndale
Randall Cady — 320 votes (100 percent)
Ferndale City Council (two seats)
Brent Chase — 171 votes (26.03 percent)
Stephen Avis — 159 votes (24.20 percent)
Jennifer Fisk-Becker — 327 votes (49.77 percent)
Fortuna City Council (three seats)
Tina Christensen — 1,323 votes (33.86 percent)
Mike Johnson — 1,391 votes (35.60 percent)
Abe Stevens — 1,193 votes (30.53 percent)
Fortuna City Council, two-year term (one seat)
Carlos Diaz — 1,451 votes (100 percent)
Rio Dell City Council (three seats)
Brett Barsanti — 383 votes (38.88 percent)
Jeffrey D. Berry — 292 votes (29.64 percent)
Debra L. Garnes — 310 votes (31.47 percent)
Trinidad City Council (three seats)
Kati Breckenridge — 59 votes (33.91 percent)
Gretchen Riddle — 55 votes (31.61 percent)
Jack Tuttle — 60 votes (34.48 percent)
Trinidad City Council, two-year term (one seat)
John Waskiewicz — 61 votes (100 percent)
Districts:
Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District board, Division 4 (one seat)
Christopher Honar — 1,445 votes (39.96 percent)
Craig Benson — 1,566 votes (43.31 percent)
Jane Madsen — 605 votes (16.73 percent)
Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District board, Division 5 (one seat)
Hollie Hall — 2,347 votes (88.37 percent)
Mary V. Gelinas — 309 votes (11.63 percent)
Humboldt Community Services District board (two seats)
Alan Bongio — 1,555 votes (27.24 percent)
Julie M Ryan — 2,149 votes (37.64 percent)
Gregg Gardiner — 2,005 votes (35.12 percent)
Willow Creek Community Services District board (two seats)
Edgar (Ed) Duggan — 119 votes (29.24 percent)
Caroline Snow — 157 votes (38.57 percent)
Tangie Markle — 131 percent (32.19 percent)
School Districts:
Blue Lake Union Elementary School District board (three seats)
Yuhan Hudson —150 votes (14.07 percent)
Kim Warvi — 245 votes (22.98 percent)
Jason Crews — 259 votes (24.30 percent)
Noel Miles Soderfelt —168 votes (15.76 percent)
Susan Edinger Marshall — 244 votes (22.89 percent)
Bridgeville School District board (three seats)
Dana B. Johnston — 32 votes (18.82 percent)
Shelly Sallee — 47 votes (27.65 percent)
Philo G. Barnwell — 50 votes (29.41 percent)
Brooke Entsminger — 41 votes (24.12 percent)
Eureka City Schools board, Area 5 (one seat)
Jessica Pettitt — 723 votes (62.17 percent)
Sheerah Alice Moore — 440 votes (37.83 percent)
Fortuna Union High School District board (three seats)
Racheal Henry — 1,945 votes (26.02 percent)
Anita Gage — 1,598 votes (21.38 percent)
John Taylor — 1,725 votes (23.07 percent)
Alyssa Taylor — 827 votes (11.06 percent)
M. Robin Eckerfield — 1,381 votes (18.47 percent)
Orick Elementary School District board (two seats)
Nancy Avram — 20 votes (29.41 percent)
Edith Ann Baker — 24 votes (35.29 percent)
Kimberly Frick — 24 votes (35.29 percent)
Trinidad Union School District board (three seats)
Andrew Hagen — 222 votes (25.81 percent)
Heather Lovig — 251 votes (29.19 percent)
Steve Ladwig — 162 votes (18.84 percent)
Michelle McHenry — 225 votes (26.16 percent)
Measures:
Measure E: Ferndale Unified School District Bond Measure (55 percent needed)
Yes — 411 votes (54.73 percent)
No — 340 votes (45.27 percent)
Measure D: Fortuna Essential Services Funding Measure (majority vote)
Yes —1,046 votes (50 percent)
No — 1,046 votes (50 percent)
Measure F: Ferndale Fire Protection District Special Tax Measure (66.6 percent needed)
Yes — 478 votes (69.38 percent)
No — 211 votes (30.62 percent)
Measure G: Arcata Sales Tax Measure (majority vote)
Yes — 2,360 votes (77.02 percent)
No — 704 votes (22.98 percent)
Measure H: City of Eureka Charter Amendment Measure (majority vote)
Yes — 1,952 votes (46.87 percent)
No — 2,213 votes (53.13 percent)
Measure I: City of Eureka Transient Occupancy Tax (majority vote)
Yes — 2,878 votes (67.69 percent)
No — 1,374 votes (32.31 percent)
Measure J: Petrolia Fire Protection District Special Tax Measure (66.6 percent needed)
Yes — 49 votes (80.33 percent)
No — 12 votes (19.67 percent)
Measure K: Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District Bond Measure (66.6 percent needed)
Yes — 840 (58.91 percent)
No — 586 (41.09 percent)
For more information about local ballot processing and election results, visit Humboldtgov.org/Elections, call (707) 445-7481 or email Humboldt_Elections@co.humboldt.ca.us.
This article appears in El Niño is Here.
