June 2010 Election Results

By Jack McCurdy

Money has come to dominate politics nearly everywhere in the U.S. at every level—to the disgust of many Americans. But very often there is one big exception: incumbency, whether it be national, regional or local.

People who are running as incumbents have significant leverage over opponents, political scientists have found, because name familiarity "can be a powerful advantage," usually the result of holding office and getting known accordingly. That's because "the average voter . . . is likely to recognize their names on the ballot and vote for them," the book, The Irony of Democracy (Dye and Zeigler), has concluded, along with other scholarly works. Unless a name comes across as negative.

And there is another "wild card" in the factors that win votes, and it, too, was at play in the June 8 Morro Bay primary election. It is going door-to-door to meet prospective voters, otherwise known as precinct canvassing. Only one candidate walked precincts very much, and she got the most votes in her race for mayor.

The reason that incumbency and name recognition play such big parts in why people get elected, the authors say, is the absence of candidates campaigning on prominent issues, which was the case in the Morro Bay city primary. 

So it is not surprising that name identification was likely a key factor in the race for mayor. Betty Winholtz, serving her second four-year term as a member on the Morro Bay City Council and currently its vice mayor, and Bill Yates, a three-term former mayor dating back to 1992, who was defeated for reelection in 2004 by current mayor Janice Peters, finished first and second, respectively, among four candidates. Winholtz and Yates will face each other in the general election on Nov. 2. The mayor serves for two years.

The same name identification was probably a key factor in the race for City Council where two long-time residents active in the community—Nancy Johnson and Jack Smith—came in first and second, respectively, and veteran local businessman George Leage was only 30 votes behind Smith. D'Onna Kennedy, relatively new to Morro Bay, finished a distant fourth.

Since none of the Council candidates garnered the required 51% majority to win election in the primary, all will be candidates in the Nov. 2 election since two seats are open. Had there been more than four candidates in the primary, the top four would face off in November for the two seats.

But incumbency/name identification didn't work in the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Central Committee Second District race, which drew unusual attention, where incumbent John Barta, a controversial long-time Morro Bay political activist, was defeated. At the same time, two newcomers, Walter Health and William Carlson, both of Morro Bay, were elected. Carlson moved up to become a winner at the very end of the vote counting.

Heath had said before the election he felt the Central Committee had gotten sidetracked, in part as a result of circumstances leading to two lawsuits by former member Gail Wilson, whose ouster two years ago from the Committee involved, she says, Barta. She was a candidate in the June 8 primary and failed to become one of the six elected to the Committee by eight votes, but she did win more votes than Barta. 

Wilson's lawsuit for reinstatement to the Democratic Central Committee in response to her ouster in 2008 was decided on June 21 when Superior Court Judge Dodie Harman ruled that the case was moot because the term she had been serving would expire on June 30, and Wilson would not be able to participate because the last meeting for the Committee for that term was on June 9.  However, Wilson said she believes that the judge should have ruled on the constitutionality of the bylaw under which Wilson was removed. Otherwise, she said, the Committee could use the bylaw to remove Wilson or someone else in the coming or future terms.

The power of name recognition only comes into play if voters have little knowledge of issues or if no issue stands out and attracts their attention, the book states, and except for one public debate and invited individual appearances by most candidates at the weekly morning, untelevised Business and Community Forum, none of the candidates apparently went far to raise issues in their campaigning.

Winholtz was the only one of all candidates—for either mayor or City Council—who mailed twice to residents and only one of two who apparently mailed at all. In her first postcard to residents, she cited positions she had taken: "Achieving our vision is a collaborative effort between City government and the people it serves. We all have a responsibility. . . to protect what we value in our community, to build on our strengths, and to respect each other."

She said on the postcard that she has advocated for "library expansion, adding the off-leash dog beach, Dial-A-Ride as an essential service, affordable housing and Waste Water Treatment Plant 'reclamation ready.'"

Nancy Johnson, a candidate for City Council who finished first in that voting, was the only other candidate to mail to residents, but her one mailing only mentioned her background, values and supporters. 

Winholtz also was apparently one of only three candidates for mayor or City Council who "walked precincts" to meet voters at the door. She estimated she covered about three-quarters of the city's electoral precincts. Smith said he walked a little just prior to the election. And so did Johnson. So the top three finishers went door-to-door, at least in some measure.

But all the candidates expressed their views on a variety of issues facing Morro Bay on their web sites, except for Rick Grantham, the current Council member who was seeking election as mayor. He finished third and Neil Farrell, managing editor and reporter for the Bay News, fourth and last in the primary, which eliminated both for the November 2nd election.

The candidates' web sites are Winholtz for Mayor, Yates Blogspot, Nancy Johnson MB City Council, 
Kennedy 4 City Council, George Leage and Smith For MB Council.
San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder final official results - SLO County Clerk-Recorder

Morro Bay Mayor

BETTY WINHOLTZ 1275 35.06% 
WILLIAM YATES 1149 31.59% 
R. "RICK" GRANTHAM 740 20.35% 
NEIL FARRELL 460 12.65%

Morro Bay City Council

NANCY JOHNSON 1791 31.90%
JACK SMITH 1448 25.79%
GEORGE LEAGE 1418 25.25%
D'ONNA KENNEDY 932 16.60%

San Luis Obispo County Democratic Central Committee (six to be elected)

JOHN ASHBAUGH 3246 15.23%
MARCIA L. MUNSON 2690 12.62%
WALTER HEATH 2264 10.62%
RONALD SAMPSON 2166 10.16%
E. DENNIS HUGHES 2144 10.06%
WILLIAM CARLSON 1962 9.20%

GAIL G. WILSON 1954 9.17%
JOHN BARTA 1944 9.12%
R. PEPPER HUGHES 1443 6.77%
MARIA M. KELLY 1404 6.59%

Belted Kingfisher image on banner by Cleve Nash