The counting is over – incumbent First District Supervisor Valerie Brown will face challenger Will Pier in November’s runoff.
The final results, released late Friday afternoon, show Brown with 11,399 votes (44.1 percent) and Pier with 6,005 votes (23.2 percent). On June 4, the initial count had Brown leading with 9,422 votes (44.2 percent) and Pier at 4,796 votes (22.5 percent).
“I surely expected such,” said Brown, who on June 3 failed to get the 50 percent of the vote she needed to avoid the runoff. “I’m looking forward to the next race, and in the meantime, I continue to do the job for which I was hired.”
Pier sounded both relieved and pleased.
“It’s great. I’m really happy, and we’ve been just continuing on with the campaign, and so I’m glad that we did,” he said. “I’m thrilled, and thank everyone for their support.”
Fellow First District hopeful David Reber placed third with 5,137 votes (19.9 percent). “I’m not surprised, and my congrats to Will,” Reber said. “I am sure that he will run a fair campaign.”
Sonoma County showed an overall voter turnout of 46.4 percent, with slightly more than a third voting by mail. A Registrar of Voters spokesperson said Tuesday that 27,102 of the First District’s 53,877 registered voters – slightly more than 50 percent – turned out for the June 3 election. Of these, almost two-thirds voted by mail-in ballot. Absentee ballots for the Nov. 4 election will be mailed Oct. 6, and those wishing to vote in that election must register by Oct. 20.
Friday’s results will not affect the complaint filed June 11 with the state Fair Political Practices Commission by Reber, Pier and Lawrence Wiesner, alleging that a prescription discount card sent by Brown just before the election violated two sections of California’s 1974 Political Reform Act. An FPPC spokesman said Thursday that the commission was reviewing the complaint but had not yet issued a ruling.
News reporter Bonnie Durrance contributed to this report.
