A new era in San Mateo County politics

A new era has begun in San Mateo County politics with the election of Assemblymember Kevin Mullin to the 15th Congressional District seat that had been held by U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier.

“It’s a bittersweet moment for me,” Speier said at a Mullin victory party Tuesday night in South San Francisco, noting that she is ending nearly 40 years in elective office in the county. “But it’s a sweet moment to be able to pass the torch.”

Indeed, Mullin now supplants Speier as the most powerful officeholder in the county. The other dominant figures in the county now are state Sen. Josh Becker, and Assemblymember-elect Diane Papan, who won the seat held by Mullin with an astonishing 72.6% of the vote.

Add in the convincing election of Menlo Park Councilmember Ray Mueller to the District 3 seat on the Board of Supervisors, and the face of San Mateo County politics is undergoing significant change.

Not the change sought by the county’s progressive ranks, however.

So many groups and individuals endorsed in this race from the Peninsula Young Democrats to the Central Labor Council that it is hard to sort out who did a better job of getting their people elected. But the most noise and energy were generated by the progressives and they had mixed results at best with moderates winning many of the contested seats.

There are races still up in the air, of course, the most prominent being the one between Belmont Councilmember Charles Stone and Noelia Corzo, San Mateo-Foster City School District trustee. 

The latest numbers are due out this afternoon. The last count Tuesday morning showed Corzo with a scant 86-vote lead. This had shrunk throughout the count, the numbers changing in such small increments that it is something less than a trend. More like a trend-ette. But it bears a striking resemblance to the agonizing climb by Redwood City Councilmember Giselle Hale from third place in the 21st Assembly primary to a narrow slide into second place.

Late vote counts that, days later, change the outcome of close elections appear to be the new normal. If Elections Chief Mark Church’s projection of 60% turnout is correct, there are more than 137,000 ballots yet to be counted countywide. And there’s the catch — countywide. We have no idea how many of these ballots are outstanding in each of the many districts now segmenting the electorate.

HAPPY JUST TO BE HERE: County Supervisor David Canepa, who lost to Mullin in a creditable campaign, was almost giddy about his 44% showing Tuesday night in a brief phone interview. He finished 11 points behind Mullin, a substantial improvement on the 17-point gap in the primary. Add him to the list of elected officials whose influence must be considered.

LEFT OF LEFT: If this county moved any more left, it would fall into the ocean, as voters were more liberal than the rest of the state on some key issues. Gov. Gavin Newsom was reelected with 57.6% of the vote statewide; 72% in San Mateo County. Proposition 1, which embeds reproductive rights in the state Constitution, passed with 65% of the vote statewide; 76.7% in here. 

AROUND THE BALLOT: Foster City, which might be the most conservative city in the county, relatively speaking, appeared to have elected Stacy Jimenez and former Councilmember (and Republican) Art Kiesel over incumbent and progressive ally Richa Awasthi. … Redwood City Councilmember Diane Howard was easily elected to her seventh term, while, also in the City of Redwood, Margaret Becker appears to have defeated progressive-backed Chris Sturken. … In Menlo Park, voters wiped out the contentious Measure V, the initiative that would have handcuffed residential development. … In South San Francisco, another initiative, Measure DD, which proposed a tax on business to fund day care programs, also was defeated handily.

REALLY: Daly City Councilmember Pam DiGiovanni easily won reelection despite, ahem, a bruising campaign. Her tireless opponents already are threatening to recall her and say they will demand she resign at the next council meeting.

SENIORITY: U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo was reelected to her 16th term, affirming her status as the senior member of the county’s political delegation. She turned back Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar, for the second time, by 17 points. Kumar’s election hangover may linger, however, amid rumors a complaint about alleged campaign violations is soon to be filed.

ONE LAST WORD: Given the current political environment, it is a puzzle why anyone would want to hold office, let alone run for it. As we wind down the 2022 season (and gear up for the fast-approaching 2024 election), let us take a moment to thank those who stepped into the arena and put our democratic ideals into practice.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.