Queer mom and longtime nonprofit leader Monica Martinez will be Santa Cruz County's first out supervisor. After nearly clinching the coastal board's open District 5 seat in March, she prevailed in the runoff race on the November 5 ballot.
After the vote count was updated on Veterans Day, Martinez declared victory. According to the unofficial returns, she won the race to succeed outgoing Supervisor Bruce McPherson, who had endorsed her, with 56.53% of the vote.
She defeated Christopher Bradford, who had lost his home in the 2020 CZU fire that devastated the region. They faced off on the fall ballot after Martinez fell short on the primary ballot of the 50%-plus-one threshold she needed to clinch the seat in the winter.
In a November 12 email to her supporters, Martinez noted, "our community's voice is clear, and I couldn't be more grateful."
Martinez is now the first woman elected to the District 5 seat, which covers the mostly unincorporated San Lorenzo Valley region of the county. (A woman was appointed to it in 1979 and served two years.)
She also will be one the first two women to serve on the county board since 2012 and the first ones elected to it since 2008, as two female candidates are in a tight race for the open District 2 seat. Martinez will be resigning as CEO of the county's largest health and human services nonprofit, Encompass Community Services, in order to take her oath of office.
"This campaign has been about real issues that matter to us: preparing for and recovering from disasters, making our roads safe, supporting our essential workers, and ensuring affordable housing for those who want to call this place home," noted Martinez in her congratulatory email. "We've run a positive, determined campaign — and it's clear that message resonated with voters who want thoughtful, effective leadership for our district."
Born and raised in Bakersfield at the southernmost end of California's Central Valley, Martinez grew up in a union household. Her father is a retired Kern County fire captain, while her mother is a retired public elementary school teacher.
Looking for a more welcoming environment post high school, Martinez enrolled at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo along the state's Central Coast. As she worked toward earning her B.A. in political science, Martinez landed a summer job after her freshman year with the YMCA of San Francisco at its Camp Jones Gulch in the Santa Cruz Mountains. She is a devotee of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free annual fall music festival held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
After Martinez earned a master's in public administration at the University of Southern California, she worked to provide services to homeless women living on Los Angeles' Skid Row. In 2010, the nonprofit Housing Matters of Santa Cruz County hired her as its executive director.
She co-founded the 180/180 Initiative, a community partnership aimed at helping to house homeless individuals in the county. By 2014, Martinez had taken over the leadership of Encompass Community Services.
Martinez is a co-parent with her two children's other mom, from whom she is separated. She had to evacuate with her family from their home in Felton for a month due to the conflagration that swept through four years ago.
"This is just the beginning, and I'm ready to get to work. Thank you for placing your trust in me and for choosing to move forward with hope and resilience. Together, we have a bright future ahead," pledged Martinez.
Other LGBTQ local races
In nearby Monterey, where the county has 40,530 ballots still to process, gay incumbent Mayor Tyller Williamson could declare victory Wednesday once the vote count is updated. He currently stands in first place with 68% of the vote to serve a second two-year term.
But he and the city's council members will now be term-limited to serving 12 years on the governing body, whether in a council seat or as mayor, due to 80% of voters supporting local ballot measure X. As it is not retroactive, it means Williamson could remain as mayor through 2036 should he choose to seek reelection to five more mayoral terms.
Joining him as a gay elected mayor in the greater Bay Area region will be Tracy City Councilmember Dan Tavares Arriola, having bested his two opponents in his second bid for the position. Elected to his council seat in 2018, Arriola had first sought to become mayor two years later but fell short.
As of Wednesday, Arriola was in first place in this year's mayoral contest with 47.45% of the unofficial returns. He had all but declared victory the day after the November 5 election based on the initial results in the race.
"I look forward to working with a new City Council, and I am committed to starting a new chapter of progress for our community!" wrote Arriola in a post-election statement he shared via his X account. In thanking those who voted for him, Arriola noted, "The opportunity to serve the city that raised me is truly the honor of a lifetime."
His partner of two years, Hayward public school teacher Charlie Jones, also appears poised to win his race for a school board seat in the East Bay city of Pleasanton where he lives. He is currently in first place with 51% of the vote, with the next vote count update in the county expected on Friday.
As for Arriola, he is limited to serving two two-year terms as mayor. Thus, Arriola could lead the San Joaquin County city through 2028 if he's reelected in 2026.
In Stockton, Mario Enríquez is poised to become the first gay man on his City Council. As of the November 11 vote update, he remains in first place for the open District 4 seat with 51.65% of the vote.
He is set to return out LGBTQ representation to the council for the first time since 2012, when its lesbian former member Susan Talamantes Eggman departed for the state Assembly. Now a state senator, she is termed out this year and leaving the Legislature.
Enríquez, who grew up in nearby Lathrop and works for his alma mater the University of the Pacific, had launched his council bid in 2023. After graduating in 2010 with a B.A. in sociology, Enríquez left Stockton to pursue new educational and professional opportunities.
One ended up being with the LGBTQ Victory Fund's educational arm, the Victory Institute, as its director of constituent engagement. He stepped down from the national nonprofit in early 2022 after being hired by the private college.
He plans to host an election update live via his Instagram account @marioforstockton at 2 p.m. Thursday (November 14).
On Monday, in a brief update posted to his Facebook campaign page, Enríquez had noted, "Our people-powered campaign is continuing to trend UPWARDS! ADELANTE!"
Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on gay San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria's election to a second term.
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko.
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected]
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