Editorial | The road to November's election in Santa Cruz County

The votes have been counted, finally, and now the focus moves to Nov. 3's general election.

Locally, the results from the June 2 primary mean a runoff for Santa Cruz's next mayor. Ryan Coonerty was the top vote-getter, but failed to get the simple majority to win the seat outright over the other four candidates who, in aggregate, pulled in enough votes to send the race onto the general election ballot.

Coonerty will face off against Ami Chen Mills in the runoff, and, considering the debate in Santa Cruz over building heights, affordablity and future budget decisions, voters in the city will get a clear choice. Coonerty received approximately 48.7% of the nearly 21,000 votes cast within the city with Chen Mills' getting slightly more than 20%.

It's likely Coonerty will continue to raise more campaign funds, and receive endorsements from that shadowy "establishment" his opponents love to cite and that Chen Mills will continue to receive support from many progressives.

The other down-to-the-wire vote count has Tony Nuñez elected as the next Santa Cruz County supervisor representing the 4th District that includes most of the Pajaro Valley. Nuñez, who was endorsed by the Sentinel Editorial Board, received just enough votes - 50.07% - to avoid a November runoff against incumbent Supervisor Felipe Hernandez, who received 30.84%.

Nuñez, a former journalist, ran outside any politically organized support. Defeating an incumbent is an impressive feat. Nuñez currently works with Community Bridges and is one of the inaugural members of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District Board of Directors, where he serves as board chair. By campaigning on creating more economic opportunity for working families, improving access to essential services including healthcare, and ensuring greater accountability in county government, Nuñez seems to have tapped into a desire among voters wanting change in the 4th District.

Nuñez will assume the Fourth District seat on Jan. 4

In the governor's race, Santa Cruz County voters, choosing from among the 61 candidates, gave Tom Steyer the most votes. Steyer who received support from many progressives in the state, finished third behind leading vote-getter Democrat Xavier Becerra with Republican Steve Hilton finishing second. Becerra and Hilton will be on the November ballot.

There will also be 14 statewide ballot measures for voters to wade through, including the billionaires tax. The one-time 5% tax on California residents whose net worth exceeded $1 billion at the start of this year, was put forth by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West. It's opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is concerned the union's proposed tax would drive the wealthiest residents out of California, doing long-term damage to its tax base and stifling innovation. He wants to see a tax on billionaires at the federal level.

Proponents of the measure, which needs a simple majority to pass, estimate it would generate $100 billion for the state that would go into a special fund with 90% reserved for healthcare spending and 10% for education and food assistance programs.

Locally, the Board of Directors for Santa Cruz Metro are in the process of putting a half-cent sales tax increase on the Nov. 3 ballot. Metro faces a $4.2 million budget deficit in the coming fiscal year, as state funding that powered a new ridership program will dry up in 2027.

But the measure would face a lot of traffic should it be on the fall ballot, since polling has shown county voters are divided on supporting another tax and since it will need a two-thirds plus majority to pass. The tax increase would generate $27 million annually for the bus agency, which is enough to replace expiring state grants.

The other option, to make it a "citizens' initiative" that would be organized by Metro supporters for the 2028 ballot and require only a simple majority to pass, seems less promising since state voters in November will consider a measure that changes the rules on citizens' initiatives placing them into the two-thirds-majority basket.

Getting that kind of vote percentage from tax-weary county residents would be a high bar to surmount.

Metro directors are scheduled to meet July 13, when they will decide whether to place the proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot. While that might be the only realistic option for going forward to stave off going over a financial cliff, the reality may turn out that not enough people who can be counted on to vote for such a tax are using public transit rather than their own cars, even if they support the system in theory.

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