In my previous post, I discussed how Republicans were guaranteed a majority of the Walnut Creek City Council by virtue of having four candidates, three Republicans and one decline-to-stater, running for three seats on the council. Two of these Republicans, Justin Wedel and Loella Haskew, were elected along with Mayor Bob Simmons. Wedel and Haskew join current Republican councilmember Cindy Silva to form a 3-2 council majority. Also notable is that Barry Grove, the Republican candidate with the closest ties to public employee unions, was not elected.
The Walnut Creek election was not the only one in Contra Costa in which our party’s candidates were successful. We also elected all three of our endorsed candidates to the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District—Paul H. Causey, Tad J. Pilecki, and James A. Nejedly—to the three seats being contested, and Tom Cleveland, CPA, to the Contra Costa Community College District, along with numerous other Republicans to many city and town councils throughout the county. Along with our successes electing our candidates, we were also successful in defeating the two countywide tax measures on the ballot: Measure A, a parcel tax for the Contra Costa Community College District, and Measure Q, a parcel tax for the Contra Costa Fire Protection District, in a year in which nearly three-fourths of local tax and bond measures in California passed. The defeat of Measure Q is a particularly proud achievement, given the ongoing pension abuses in the district and shrill threats by the district to close stations if the measure failed, in order to scare voters into supporting the tax.
Given that Republicans across California running for Congress, State Senate, and State Assembly, were thrashed in every closely contested race, building this sort of local “farm team” will prove vital for the party’s continued viability in the state, as these candidates are able to learn the ropes of public service and later become strong contenders for state offices. Much credit goes to the Contra Costa County Republican Party for rebuilding its precinct organization, enabling volunteers to talk to their neighbors about who their Republican candidates were for their city, county, and special district offices. Ultimately, when we lag behind the Democrats in registration as much as we do, the only way to win is to outwork the other party in voter turnout.
Congratulations to all our fellow CoCo County Republicans who were elected to office on Tuesday:
Paul H. Causey, Tad J. Pilecki, James A. Nejedly, Central Co Co Sanitary District
Jim Diaz, Howard Geller, Clayton City Council
Dan Helix, Concord City Council
Tom Cleveland, CoCo Community College District
Mike Doyle, Renee Morgan, Danville Town Council
Edward Duarte, Dublin-San Ramon Services District
Traci Reilly, Lafayette City Council
Mike Metcalf, Roger N. Wykle, Moraga Town Council
Matt Moran, Orinda Union School District
Ken Carlson, Pleasant Hill City Council
Mark W. Celio, Pleasant Hill City Treasurer
Greg Marvel, Mark Allan Jewett, San Ramon Valley USD
Matt Stamey, H. Jay Kerr, Gordon Dakin, San Ramon Valley Fire District
Loella Haskew, Justin Wedel, Walnut Creek City Council
Claire Renee Smith, Antioch USD
Jerry Parsons, John Swett, USD
Arne Simonsen, Antioch City clerk
Bob Taylor, Brentwood Mayor
Erick Stonebarger, Brentwood City Council
Dan Romero, Hercules City Council
Charles Martin, Martinez City Treasurer
Doug Hardcastle, Kevin Romick, Oakley City Council
Roy V. Swearingen, Pinole City Council
Judy Lee, Pinole City Treasurer
Ray Tetrault, Discovery Bay Community Services Director