Sonoma County’s Districts 2 and 4 Board of Supervisors races will fill the seats of long-time incumbents who are retiring. Early returns on Tuesday night show homeless youth education coordinator for the county Joanna Paun with a sizeable lead in District 2 and the contest for District 4 in nearly a three-way tie.
District 2 covers Cotati, Petaluma, Penngrove, the county’s southern farm region, and part of Rohnert Park.
As of 8:13 p.m., Paun was ahead with 38% of the votes, followed by Cotati Mayor Sylvia Lemus with 25%. In third place is pro motorcycle racer and dairy farmer Shelina Moreda with 19%, followed closely by Penngrove rancher John King with 18% of the vote.
District 4 returns show a much closer race so far. Former sheriff’s deputy and Vice Mayor of Cloverdale Todd Lands leads with 34%, but Cloverdale Councilmember Melanie Bagby and former Santa Rosa mayor and police chief Tom Schwedhelm are tied and hot on his heels with 33% of the vote each so far.
District 4 covers Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Windsor, northern Santa Rosa and the grape-growing regions of Dry Creek, Knights and Alexander valleys.
A candidate would need to get at least 50% of the vote in the June 2 election to avoid a November runoff between the top two finishers.
