With more than 100,000 ballots left to count from Tuesday’s election in San Mateo County, the outcomes of several close races are still up in the air.
As of Thursday afternoon, the San Mateo County Registration and Elections Division has yet to count more than 50% of the total ballots submitted by voters. So far, it has processed around 91,000 ballots, the division said.
Of the 103,210 ballots left to count, most of them are those submitted by mail on or before Election Day.
For some of the closer races, the large number of ballots still needed to count could switch up the end results.
The race for county superintendent of schools is so far separated by about 840 votes, with Hector Camacho taking the lead Thursday with 50.57%. His challenger, Chelsea Bonini, was initially ahead of him on election night by around 600 votes.
Bonini is a trustee on the San Mateo County Board of Education, and Camacho is the San Mateo County Office of Education’s executive director of equity, social justice and inclusion.
While margins for most local politician races are high for leading candidates, the competition for county chief elections officer and assessor-county clerk-recorder is not a landslide.
Supervisor David Canepa is facing off against Jim Irizarry, the current assistant chief elections officer and assessor-county clerk-recorder.
Since election night, Canepa has received about 54% of the vote.
After results were updated Thursday with the latest count, Canepa declared victory.
“I’m humbled and grateful to the people of San Mateo County for their support and I promise to make them proud in this new role,” Canepa said in a statement.
As of Thursday, Canepa had about 7,000 more votes than Irizarry with more than 100,000 remaining ballots to count.
Irizarry didn’t comment on Canepa’s declaration of the win but said in an email that he will wait to speak on the results once all votes are tallied.
“Our campaign is feeling very positive and encouraged,” he wrote. “Out of respect for the voters who took the time to cast their ballots, we’ll wait to comment further until all votes have been counted.”
Measures B and C
Other close races include Measures B and C.
Measure B would extend the existing parcel tax in the Brisbane School District, a tax that is expiring this month. The funding would support school libraries, educational programs, and would expand student access to modern technologies.
After Thursday’s update, the approval percentage inched across the threshold of about 66.67% needed to get it passed. It so far has 67.18% approval.
Measure C is a proposed parcel tax of 17.5 cents per building square foot annually for parcels in the Redwood City Elementary School District. The funding generated from the tax would support attracting and retaining qualified teachers, counselors and school staff.
Measure C has garnered about 59% approval but needs two-thirds, or about 66.67%, in order to pass.
State races remain undecided
At the state level, there are about 40% more of the total ballots to count as of Thursday, according to election officials.
The top two candidates in the race for lieutenant governor are neck-and-neck, with State Treasurer Fiona Ma at 19.2% and former state Sen. Gloria Romero at 19.6%.
Other tight races include state senator for District 10, which includes parts and Alameda and Santa Clara counties. Union City Councilmember Scott Sakakihara and Republican Linda Price are separated by about just 60 votes.
San Mateo County is not the only county in the Bay Area with many more ballots left to process. Alameda County also has about 50% more of the total ballots to count, and Napa County has around 62% of its ballots left to process, according to state election officials.
The San Mateo County Registration and Elections Division will continue updating the election results before 4:30 p.m. on the following days: June 5, 8, 10, 12, and 15.
