Nearly 37 percent of San Mateo County registered voters filled out a ballot. Before the election, County Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum estimated turnout about 35 percent.

The number, however, is not much to smile about, said Elections Manager David Tom.

“It’s still one of the lowest ones in history,” Tom said.

Of the total 350,305 registered voters in the county, 56,353 voted at the polls, 72,291 mailed in absentee ballots and another 430 ballots were counted early, according the unofficial tally released Friday.

Almost 48 percent of all Democrats voted while just under 39 percent of Republican cast their vote.

At this point it’s hard to tell how the county measures up to the state because the state will certify its votes once all the counties have certified theirs, Tom said.

The remote voting site in Half Moon Bay appeared to be successful and voting turnout on the coast was the same or slightly better than previous years, Tom said.

Coastside residents this year narrowly rejected Measure S, a bond measure to benefit the Cabrillo School district.

One of the most expensive and highly contested races in San Mateo County was the race for state Senate District 8. Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, beat former San Mateo County supervisor Mike Nevin and former assemblyman Lou Papan.

Yee gathered 51.9 percent, Nevin received 35.4 percent and Papan took 12.7 percent of the vote. The district encompasses the western part of San Francisco and most of San Mateo County.A total of 86,030 Democrats in the district voted and 11,066 were in San Mateo County, according to the California Secretary of State Web site.

The three candidates spent a lot of money trying to get people to the polls.

Since Jan. 1, Nevin spent $887,562.80 of campaign contributions, Yee spent $673,372.59 and Papan ran a modest campaign, spending just $289,862.64.

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.