Concord District 3 Within 12 Votes as Measure O and CA Democrats Win

CONCORD, CLAYTON & SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Voters in Concord delivered a razor-thin 12-vote margin in City Council District 3 while approving business-license tax Measure O by 73.03% and rejecting two local tax measures in neighboring Clayton on Tuesday night, November 3, as Democratic candidates led across California’s statewide constitutional offices and redrawn congressional districts.

Concord District 3 Separated by 12 Votes as Measure O Reaches 73.03% and Clayton Rejects Taxes

According to Contra Costa County’s final election-night report cited by Claycord, Robyn Kuslits led Dena Acosta Beere by 12 votes in Concord’s District 3 City Council contest—562 votes to 550 votes—with Don Seta close behind at 500 votes. Incumbent Concord Councilmembers Laura Hoffmeister in District 1 and Laura Nakamura in District 5 held substantial leads, while Concord’s Measure O, which increases business license taxes, received 73.03% support.

In neighboring Clayton, Charles Schmidt led the City Council race with 1,861 votes, followed by Amy Callaghan with 1,758 votes, Kim Trupiano with 1,332 votes, and Maria Shulman with 1,297 votes. However, Clayton voters trailed on both municipal revenue measures: Measure M, a proposed 1% sales tax increase, was losing with 58.54% voting no, and Measure N, which would extend and increase the city’s landscape maintenance parcel tax, had 52.66% support, short of the required two-thirds majority.

Democrats Sweep California Statewide Offices, Congressional Seats, and Assembly Contests

Across statewide and legislative returns reported as of 10:33 p.m. Tuesday by San Jose Inside:

• Governor & Statewide Constitutional Offices: Democrat Xavier Becerra led Republican Steve Hilton 65% (4,292,646 votes) to 35% (2,308,080 votes) for Governor. Democrats also led for Lieutenant Governor (Fiona Ma 65% over Gloria Romero 35%), Secretary of State (incumbent Shirley Weber 66% over Don Wagner 34%), Attorney General (incumbent Rob Bonta 65% over Michael Gates 35%), Controller (incumbent Malia Cohen 65% over Herb Morgan 35%), and Treasurer (Eleni Kounalakis 65% over Jennifer Hawk 35%). In the all-Democratic Insurance Commissioner runoff, Jane Kim led Ben Allen 51.5% to 48.5%; Richard Barrera led Sonja Shaw 58% to 42% for Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Sally Lieber led John Pimentel 60.7% to 39.3% on the Board of Equalization (District 2).
• Congress & State Assembly: In U.S. House contests, incumbent Democrats led across the 14th District (Aisha Wahab 57% over Melissa Hernandez 43%), 16th District (Sam Liccardo 76% over Peter Soule 24%), 17th District (Ro Khanna 71% over Ritesh Tandon 29%), 18th District (Zoe Lofgren 72% over Shane Lewis 28%), and 19th District (Jimmy Panetta 73% over Peter Verbica 27%). In State Assembly races, incumbents led in the 23rd (Marc Berman 76% to David Johnson 24%), 24th (Alex Lee 71% to Max Hsia 29%), 25th (Ash Kalra 73% to Himat Bainiwal 27%), 26th (Patrick Ahrens 75% to Tim Gorsulowsky 25%), 28th (Gail Pellerin 71% to Carol Pefley 28%), and 29th (Robert Rivas 71% to Dennis Sanchez 29%).
• Southern California Battleground District 48: As reported by KPBS reporter Jake Gotta on KALW 91.7, Democratic San Diego City Councilmember Marni von Wilpert led Republican San Diego County District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond in District 48—one of 5 California districts redrawn under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 50—to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Darrell Issa.