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After a long day of voting this Super Tuesday, November 5, and with more than 213 thousand votes counted in San Mateo County, there are those who lead the race at the local level, such is the case of those who competed for a seat as councilor in various cities such as Redwood City, Half Moon Bay and East Palo Alto.
At the county level, Lisa Gauthier, who is mayor of the city of East Palo Alto, has a wide lead over her opponent, Antonio Lopez, to become a member of the Board of Supervisors for District 4.
With 58.17 percent of the votes (16,500), Gauthier beats López, who so far has 41.83 percent of the preferences (11,866).
Gauthier has more than 11 years of experience in East Palo Alto city government as mayor, vice mayor and councilwoman. Lisa was raised by a single mother in East Palo Alto. Her father served in the military and later worked as a union bricklayer in the community, building much of the infrastructure it relies on today.
By the time Lisa turned 25, she was a mother of three children: Brittnee, Ashley, and Huey. Unfortunately, her husband, who was in the military, was abusive, prompting Lisa to run away and return to her hometown of East Palo Alto. Despite not having a college degree and being estranged from her children, Lisa found employment and steadily rose in her career. After two years of struggle, she successfully regained custody of her beloved children.
Lisa’s pursuit of higher education began in adulthood, opening doors and fueling her professional growth. She earned her degree in Business Administration and Marketing Management while working full-time and serving as mayor. Her remarkable career path led her to her current position as Senior Vice President of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Encouraged by her daughter, she ran for City Council in 2012 and won against all odds.
Gauthier's priorities include crime and public safety, affordable housing, homeless families, reproductive rights and health care, education, and social equity.
Members for City Councils
As for members for the East Palo Alto City Council, the three with the highest number of votes are: Carlos Romero (16.80 percent of the votes), Webster Lincoln (16.36 percent of the votes), and Mark Dinan (15.75 percent of the votes).
Municipal councillors
Half Moon Bay
In these elections, residents of various cities had the opportunity to elect members to City Councils, and in the case of the city of Half Moon Bay, Patric Bo Jonsson, who competed for District 2, is leading with 56.88 percent of the general votes, leaving behind his opponent, Harvey Rarback, who has 43.12 percent of the preferences.
In District 3 of the same city, Paul Nanengast defeated Joaquín Jiménez with 64.04 percent of the votes counted so far.
Redwood City
In the city of Redwood City, the election dispute was for a seat on the Council for four districts (1, 3, 4 and 7).
In District 1, there are no surprises, the only contender on the ballot was Jeff Gee, the current mayor of the city, thus remaining with the representation of that part of the city.
However, in District 3 there will be changes, Isabella Chu will replace the current vice mayor, Lissette Espinoza Guernica, after obtaining 52.05 percent of the preferences over 47.95 percent of her opponent.
For District 4 there was no one to fight back and the only one on the ballot was Elmer Martínez Saballos, who is also repeating in office.
For the council member for District 7, the race was close, with Marcela Padilla leading the vote count so far with 51.47 percent, while Diana Reddy has 48.53 percent of the preferences. If the trends continue, Padilla would replace the seat currently occupied by Alicia C. Aguirre.
It is worth noting that voter turnout in San Mateo County was 48.2 percent; 213,421 votes have been counted so far, of which 178,796 were from mail-in ballots and 34,625 were from voting centers. The county had 443,164 registered voters.
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