Supervisor Ted Williams, Judge Patrick Pekin have big leads in election results, college bond falling short, third district supervisors in horserace, many more votes remain to be counted

The county’s final election night tally showed Supervisor Ted Williams with about 54 percent of the vote in initial returns. An incumbent needs 50 percent plus one to avoid a November runoff. Judge Patrick Pekin is at roughly 77 percent in those early tallies. The Mendocino College bond measure, which requires 55 percent approval to pass, was just under 53 percent in the first release of results.

Note, the numbers here were the second round of numbers produced by the county. At midnight, the final results came out, with no change in the positions shown here, from just before the final, preliminary results were released. MANY votes remain to be counted and these results coud change, especially in races that were close. The final count will take several days and the election will then be certified within 30 days. The election night ballot count was 9177, or 16.93 percent of the vote. The actual turnout will be much higher, once the rest of the ballots are counted.

“It will be much higher – in the past 2 days (Monday and today) we have received just under 7100 ballots from the Ukiah drop boxes in and in the mail – this isn’t counting what we received from the polls and other drop locations today.  We have counted everything that was ready to count,” said county elections chief Katrina Bartolomie, in an interview by email about 1. a.m.

“Tomorrow we will begin tallying the ballots left to count and issue a report when complete, then back at checking signatures, sorting into precinct order, opening and counting.”

Well today! They put in a late night for sure.

In county supervisorial races, a candidate who receives 50 percent plus one vote is elected outright. If no one reaches that threshold, the top two finishers advance to a November runoff. Statewide contests work differently: under California’s top‑two primary system, the two highest vote‑getters move on to the general election regardless of their percentages.

The most competitive local contest in the early returns is the Third District supervisorial race, where four candidates are clustered closely together, as shown below. John Haschak decided not to run for reelection in the third. The third district is inland and northern Mendocino County. The 5th District runs from south of Fort Bragg to the southern tip of the Coast but curves inland to Hopland.

There is one notable development for Democrats in the higher‑office contests: early returns show State Sen. Mike McGuire narrowly leading the Republican challenger in the newly redrawn 1st Congressional District. Mendocino County was split between two congressional districts during the most recent redistricting cycle.

Most of the county continues to be represented by Congressman Jared Huffman in the 2nd Congressional District, where he holds a strong lead in early returns. Even if he receives more than 50 percent of the vote, California’s top‑two primary system sends the two highest vote‑getters to the November ballot. The leading Democrats for the state legislative seats that include parts of Mendocino County — Damon Connolly for state Senate and Chris Rogers for state Assembly — also show wide advantages in the county’s early tallies. In each of these contests, the Republican candidate, not another Democrat, is running a distant second within Mendocino County. County‑level results do not reflect the full districts, and figures for the entire districts were not yet available.

Janice Kim is leading in Mendocino County’s early returns in the race for California Insurance Commissioner, a result that will please editor Frank Hartzell, who has followed her campaign closely. Kim has positioned herself as the candidate most willing to take a harder line on insurance regulation, a major issue in California’s current market. Her lead reflects only Mendocino County’s portion of the statewide vote; results for the full statewide contest were not yet available.

In Mendocino County’s early returns for governor, Tom Steyer is currently leading the field. Katie Porter and Matt Mahan are also drawing significant Democratic support in the county, while Republican Steve Hilton is the leading GOP candidate locally. On the Republican side, Sheriff Chad Bianco is also performing strongly in Mendocino County. These results reflect only the county’s portion of the statewide vote; the top‑two primary system means the two highest vote‑getters statewide will advance to November, regardless of their percentages in any single county. Statewide totals were not yet available.

Katie Porter received 799 votes in Mendocino County’s early tallies, a substantial share of the local Democratic vote. Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra are separated by fewer than a dozen votes for the second‑place spot in the county’s count. These figures reflect only Mendocino County’s portion of the statewide totals, which were not yet available.

Statewide, it looks like Mendo’s choice for governor is trailing at third….CalMatters has good coverage below.

California election result: Who leads in governor’s race?

Voting in the races for lieutenant governor and secretary of state showed no clear leader in Mendocino County’s early tallies, with support spread across several candidates.

Mendocino County has 54,207 registered voters, and only a fraction of those voices are reflected in these early tallies. The numbers will shift as more ballots arrive and are processed, but the first returns offer a snapshot of how one small, scattered county along the North Coast is beginning to shape the statewide picture. From the tight supervisorial contests to the wide margins in the judicial and legislative races, the early vote shows a community engaged, opinionated, and far from uniform. What happens next depends on the thousands of ballots still in transit, still being verified, still waiting to be counted — each one a small piece of the story this county tells about itself every election cycle. The county has up to 30 days to certify final results.

Note- the county updated these results several times, the final results from election night coming just before midnight. The total number of ballots counted changed but none of the candidates moved up or down. McGuire gained 2 percentage points in the midnight tally. Ted Williams percentage fell from 55 to 54 percent, and most others saw even less changes with the updates. The college vote still was short and still around 52 percent.

You can get the full final election night update here

Current Election Results | Mendocino County, CA