Sonoma Valley and Rincon Valley voters made a strong statement in Tuesday’s election for the Sonoma County District 1 Supervisor position. Valerie Brown is the incumbent and was overwhelming the top vote-getter, at 44.2 percent of all votes cast in the race.
That mere plurality, though, is not enough under Sonoma County rules to earn re-election. That takes an actual majority (one vote over 50%), so the voters will be asked their preference again, in as part of the presidential ballot in November, but then there will be just the top two candidates for supervisor.
Brown was disappointed but not surprised at the results, saying, “With four candidates in the race, getting more than 50% was going to be tough.” She was pleased at the large number of voters choosing her, and she is “looking forward to November.”
The second-place candidate, who will challenge Brown in November, is Sonoma Valley resident Will Pier, a first-time office seeker whose candidacy resonated with many voters throughout District 1. Facing Brown may be daunting, but Pier said, “We’re ready to do that. We’ve talked about strategy and we think it’s going to work.”
Dave Reber finished third, at 20.5 percent of the vote to Pier’s 22.5 percent. In a prepared statement, he said, “My congratulations to Valerie, and my thanks to all the candidates for running clean, substantive campaigns. I humbly thank my many supporters who helped me over these many months.”
Larry Wiesner finished fourth. With 12.7 percent of the vote, his participation could have affected the selection of Pier over Reber to challenge Brown. And in order for Pier to prevail in November, he may need all of Reber’s votes, plus some of Wiesner’s. Pier expressed hope that some of Brown’s votes might come his way, too. “When I’d knock on doors,” he said, “people seemed ready for a change. I was the only candidate of the four who’d been endorsed by the Sierra Club.”
County Supervisor 1st District N-P
Vote Count Percentage
Valerie K Brown 9,422 44.2%
Will Pier 4,796 22.5%
David J Reber 4,335 20.4%
Lawrence R Wiesner 2,705 12.7%
Write-in candidate(s) 43 0.2%
