UPDATE, 10:58 p.m.: SECOND REPORT! Fullerton Takes Lead in Eureka’s Third Ward; Race Tightens in Fifth

The second election night report is in — see it here — and the big news, I suppose, is that with about 350 more votes counted in Eureka’s Third Ward, longtime planning commissioner John Fullerton has pulled slightly ahead of G. Mario Fernandez. Currently stands at about 53 percent Fullerton, 47 percent Fernandez, with, of course, lots and lots more votes left to be counted.

Meanwhile, in the Fifth Ward, Renee Contreras de Loach continues to hold a small lead over Nicholas Kohl — 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent. 

Meanwhile, up in Arcata, the same story — Meredith Matthews and Kimberley White with big leads for the two open seats. 

Juan Pablo Cervantes continues to hold a steady lead over Tiffany Hunt Nielsen in the race for Clerk/Recorder/Registrar of Voters — 52.9 percent to 47.1 percent.

An aside: Kinda interesting that Arcata’s Measure M — the one that would mandate the city fly the Earth Flag at the top of the flagpole — seems to be going down kinda hard, at least with the vote counted so far. As of this writing 58.1 percent of voters are saying: Uh, no.

— Hank Sims

UPDATE, 10:23 p.m.: Relief at Septentrio

There seems to have been a palpable sense of relief up at Septentrio in Arcata, with disgraced councilmember Brett Watson a distant third in the first set of results.

— Hank Sims

UPDATE, 9:55 p.m.: The Eureka Scene at North of Fourth

Several Eureka candidates are celebrating election night by testing their wits with a wee bit of trivia between cocktails and enchiladas at North of Fourth in Old Town.

Julie Ryan, who is vying for a seat on the Humboldt Community Services District governing board, told the Outpost she’s feeling “cautiously optimistic” about the preliminary results.

“I’ve put the work in and have had a lot of support and I’m really grateful for that, she said. “I’ve been running into a lot of people who are really supportive of what I’m doing. I’m actually a little bit more stressed about about bigger elections across the country, because fuck fascism.”

Ryan said her campaign has been especially interesting “because it’s such an under the radar position” and has focused the last few months going door to door to get the word out and educate the public.

“I decided to run because community services districts deal with a lot more than just water, sewer and streetlights,” she said. “A big piece of the campaign has been educating people and saying, ‘Hey! Special districts across California do conservation work, parks and recreation, libraries, fire departments and other essential services for people who live outside city limits. … It’s a real privilege to be able to run for office and have the capacity to do board service.”

Eureka’s Third Ward council candidate G. Mario Fernandez is mingling with supporters at North of Fourth as well. Despite “a little bit of butterflies,” Fernandez said he’s optimistic.

“It would be nice to know one way or another before I go to bed tonight,” he laughed. “It’s been good. I’ve had a lot of great conversations with people, it feels like the vibe is there.”

— Isabella Vanderheiden

UPDATE, 9:08 p.m.: First Results!

Well, FML, LoCO Bot failed. 

Briefly¸ with around 7,500 votes counted:

In the first count, Meredith Matthews and Kimberley White are way ahead in Arcata, each with 30+%. Brett Watson is down around 10%, along with Raelina Krikston.

In the Clerk/Recorder/Registrar race, Juan Pablo Cervantes has a slight lead over Tiffany Hunt Nielsen, 52.7 percent to 47.2 percent.

In Eureka, G. Mario Fernandez and John Fullerton are neck-and-neck for the Third Ward, 51.2 percent to 48.7 percent Fernandez. In the Fifth Ward, though, kind of a shocker — Renee Contreras de Loach has a pretty substantial lead, with 56.1 percent of the early vote over Nicholas Kohl.

Also: Insurgent candidate Julie Ryan is, so far, muscling out Alan Bongio for the Humboldt Community Services District seat! Two seats are up: incumbent Gregg Gardiner has about 40.4 percent, Ryan has about 34.2 percent, and Bongio is placing a distant third, with about 25.3 percent.

Full results here.

— Hank Sims

UPDATE, 8:55 p.m.: New elections result posted

— LoCO Staff

UPDATE, 8:55 p.m.: New elections result posted

— LoCO Staff

UPDATE, 8:49 p.m.:

A large crowd of Arcata folks are eagerly awaiting election results at the Septentrio Winery enjoying wine and appetizers at an election night party hosted by Arcata City Council candidate Meredith Matthews.

Matthews told the Outpost that she is feeling “pretty positive” about the election, and that she looks forward to being elected by the voters for her second term (Matthews was appointed by the council for her current term and this was her first time running a campaign.)

“I’m feeling excited about tonight,” Matthews said. “I’m really looking forward to the opportunity for another four years. I’ve got a lot of wonderful support.”

In addition to Matthew’s friends and family, some other council members and city staff are partying down at Septentrio tonight, including Arcata City Manager Karen Diemer, Councilmember Sarah Schaefer and Arcata City Council candidate Raelina Krikston.

Kriston is also feeling the positive election night energy, and said that at this point she’s just trying to remain as calm as she can as the results roll in.

“It’s like fucked-up Christmas,” Krikston told the Outpost. “You’ve got the same sense of anticipation.”

— Stephanie McGeary

UPDATE, 8:15 p.m.: Arcata Elex-Heads Gather at Septentrio Winery

— Andrew Goff

UPDATE, 7:49 p.m.: Forget That Stuff About a Large Turnout, Which We Talk About Below

Election Manager Juan Pablo Cervantes sends along the following note:

I am terribly sorry. I misspoke. The amount reported in the first report will be ~8,000, with bigger reports throughout the night. We’re expecting to be at around the ~10,000 ballot range by the end of the night. We’ll see a bigger report by Friday that’ll put us ahead of where we were in the Primary. That amount received is still correct as of this morning.

That “amount received”: 24,264. That many ballots were in the office as of this morning, but apparently the first report will contain only 8,000 votes — a big dropoff from June.

— Hank Sims

UPDATE, 7:08 p.m.:

“Uncertainty is a really unfamiliar feeling for me. I’m used to having a pretty good idea of what’s next,” Kohl laughed. “It’s going to take aw hile to count the votes, and until then all of the possibilities are still rolling.”

This is the first time Kohl has run for local office. When asked about his time on the campaign trail, he said he really enjoyed meeting potential future constituents.

“I really liked canvassing, going door to door and meeting people in the Fifth Ward,” he said. “Going out for a couple of hours after work I got a really good idea of what’s impacting people. From homelessness to mental health to housing to people who are just really excited to be here.”

— Isabella Vanderheiden

UPDATE, 6:56 p.m.: Nicholas Kohl Serves Supporters at the Oberon

As you might’ve guessed, Eureka City Council candidate Nicholas Kohl is awaiting election results with an intimate group of supporters in Oberon, the Old Town restaurant he’s owned for roughly a decade and a half.

Despite being the man of the hour, Kohl is nevertheless behind the bar mixing drinks for his guests but paused to give us his thoughts on the suspenseful evening ahead.

“I’m really nervous,” Kohl confessed, but he said he’s ultimately fine with either outcome.

— Andrew Goff