PREVIOUSLY:

• Faith Center Pastor Steps Up! Chet Albin Returns! Eureka’s Second Ward Race Just Got Interesting
• Matthew Owen and Chet Albin Withdraw from Eureka City Council Race Before It Even Begins

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Mouths are still agape at Friday’s wild developments in the race for the Eureka City Council’s Second Ward seat.

The day began with Matthew Owen, consort of Fourth District Supervisor Virginia Bass, as the only person in the race, presumably cruising to easy victory. After a couple of sharp turns, including the entrance and exit of former councilmember Chet Albin, the day — and the nomination period — closed with Owen out and Faith Center Pastor Heidi Messner running unopposed.

What happened?  Why did Albin get into the race in the first place — out of an overabundance of civic responsibility, or to punish the Bass/Owen family for the supervisor’s failure to hew exclusively to a traditional Eureka conservative line? Did Owen, whose city council ambitions have long been whispered, drop out of the race more or less accidentally at the 5 p.m. Friday deadline, unaware that Albin had dropped out at the same time and left him at least a somewhat plausible path to victory?

Theories abound. In an attempt to scry some answers, the Outpost went over to the City Clerk’s office to examine the nomination papers of each candidate. Each candidate had to collect at least 20 nominations from other Eureka citizens in order to qualify for the ballot. Sometimes candidates will go out of their way to get these signatures from prominent personages in order to send a message to their competitors: Look out, I got this guy on my side!

Well, this exercise failed to answer any questions. Instead it raised a great big new question: Why did Supervisor Bass nominate Pastor Heidi Messner for the office, rather than her husband?

For there her name is, third from the top on Messner’s petition. And there, on Owen’s petition, her name is not.

This fact should probably wipe away all previous conspiracy theorizing about what happened Friday in the Second Ward, and instead replace it with an entirely new batch of conspiracy theorizing. Did Owen, feeling that his own bid was doomed with Messner’s entrance, stick in the race until the very last minute to scare off other potential challengers? Did Bass, knowing that her husband can be something of a loose cannon, seek to undermine his campaign with a House or Cards-worthy power play?

She says no. Reached just before the Board of Supervisors meeting this morning, Bass told the Outpost that she has known Messner for quite some time, and has often encouraged her to get into politics.

Also: Bass said that Owen never asked her to sign his petition. And she noted that “nominating” someone for a political race is not necessarily the same as endorsing that person.

So If her husband had stayed in the race against Messner, who would she have voted for?

“I’m not answering that question!” Bass said.

For his part, Owen told the Outpost this morning that he was always prepared to step aside if a good, qualified candidate could be found to run for Second Ward — he said that between his job and his duties with his Rotary Club, his time is at a premium. Messner, he said, is that good, qualified candidate. “I think she’s going to do a great job,” Owen said.

Among the other maybe-kinda-sorta interesting names on the nomination papers: Councilmember Melinda Ciarabellini signed for her former council colleague Chet Albin, as did a host of railroad/port boosters. Mayor Frank Jager, current city council candidate John Fullerton and numerous Rotarians nominated Matt Owen.

Full list of nominators for each candidate below. I was unable to completely decipher the atrocious handwriting of some signatories: