According to media reports, such as an article in the Daily Journal, as more and more precincts report their final vote counts, tallies are not turning out quite as expected.
For example, in San Mateo County's District 4, though Redwood City resident and former County elections chief Warren Slocum was declared the winner of the Supervisor seat that was up for grabs in the Nov. 6 election, Redwood City School District board member Shelly Masur actually received the most local votes.
It all comes down to a tricky thing called Measure B.
Another matter voters were asked to decide upon Nov. 6 was that of at-large County Supervisor elections versus by-district. Previously, voters have always voted at-large for all seats open in all districts for county supervisors. In other words, someone from Burlingame, for example, could help decide who should be the supervisor representing Redwood City, because of how the system worked.
But, Measure B passed on Nov. 6, which means that, moving forward, County Supervisor elections will be by-district. So, only District 4 residents can vote on who the supervisor representing District 4 will be, in the future.
It's just too bad for Masur that policy wasn't in place already on Nov. 6 - or she could have won.
As the Daily Journal reported Thursday, with results from the County Elections Office's Statement of the Vote, 22,535 voters from District 4 voted for Masur, who was running against Slocum for the District 4 seat. Slocum received 19,317 votes in District 4.
However, it's in the other districts countywide that Slocum prevailed, which pushed his total number of votes over the edge and had him beating Masur overall.
District Four includes Redwood City, Menlo Park and East Palo Alto and the unincorporated areas of North Fair Oaks and Oak Knoll.
"I feel very gratified to have had so much support in the district. I'm very grateful to the voters for voting for me," Masur told Patch on Thursday.
As for her thoughts on Measure B, Masur said, "I still support district elections and always have. I'm very glad Measure B passed."
Leading up to the Nov. 6 election, many in Redwood City and San Mateo County expressed their opinions on both sides of Measure B.
Redwood City Councilmember Ian Bain advocated passionately in favor of Measure B, while county resident and voter reform advocate David Cary said he feared Measure B would enable district gerrymandering.
Slocum told Patch that, although he supports the idea of by-district elections as well, he ran his campaign based on the policy that was in place at the time.
"While I have consistently been a supporter of district elections, the countywide system is what was in place, and that is exactly how I campaigned - countywide," he said.
"Obviously, I am honored to be elected to serve the people of San Mateo County - and I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work," he continued. "As Supervisor-elect, I look forward to working to best represent my constituents in District 4 and throughout the County. I plan to be 'a local voice' for District 4, and a strong voice for San Mateo County."
PATCH WANTS TO KNOW - What do you think of how the District 4 supervisor election turned out? Do you support at-large supervisor elections, or by-district? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
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