Voter turnout reveals Petaluma’s east-west divide

In a city divided by a freeway, Mayor-elect Teresa Barrett found success on both sides.|

Petaluma politics has historically been divided by the geographic barriers like the river and highway that run through the middle of the city.

This year, however, Mayor-elect Teresa Barrett was able to establish wider appeal for her progressive platform and flip precincts that opponent Mike Harris secured in the tightly-contested 2014 race against David Glass.

Four years removed from an election decided by 84 votes for Glass, Barrett won handily in 2018, boasting a margin of over 3,300 votes and 53.9 percent of the ballots cast when official results were certified last week.

“Teresa ran a really good campaign,” said political analyst and former councilman Brian Sobel. “She realized that nothing was a given, you had to work for everything. She walked like crazy and built a diverse network of people.”

Unlike in 2014, Harris this year failed to secure a single west Petaluma precinct. In his first mayoral campaign, the former councilman earned victories on Sycamore Lane, Cinnabar Avenue, and Old Corona Road. The largest west side victory was the southern boundary near Westridge Drive.

Not only did Barrett hold firm in west Petaluma this year, but she captured several precincts on the east side - most notably Petaluma Valley Hospital, home to the second-largest concentration of registered voters in the city.

It also encompasses Rainier Avenue. The crosstown connector was a popular talking point at election forums this year, and a central piece of Harris’ platform.

Even though 68 percent of his support came from east side residents that would benefit from the connector, failing to cultivate more of a balanced split like Barrett proved costly.

“Mike spent a lot of time talking about Rainier, and most of the town has heard enough of Rainier,” Sobel said. “What else does the town find interesting and would vote for?”

There were 15,580 mayoral votes in east Petaluma, representing 58 percent of the city’s electorate in 2018. This year’s ballot also featured propositions on issues like the gas tax repeal, park funding and rent control, items that east side residents tend to be more interested in, Sobel said.

“The east side of Petaluma tends to have more families, more people who are leaving the community to work,” he said. “They’re more interested in recreation, parks, infrastructure - other things that the east side really feels profoundly if it isn’t available. And they’re newer residents.

“The west is more staid and traditional in many respects but has a progressive bend to it because they tend to resist growth in a different way. The east side is more used to growth in terms of housing.”

Nationally, this year’s midterm election was marked by historic turnout numbers and a wave of unprecedented victories for candidates belonging to minority groups. Once results became official, some of those trends were present in Petaluma, too.

In terms of turnout, it was the Petaluma’s biggest midterm election in 12 years, with over 80 percent of registered voters casting ballots. More than 62 percent were submitted by mail.

For perspective, 45 percent turned out for the 2014 midterm, and 50 percent in 2010.

In all, 28,688 ballots were cast out of the 35,575 that were registered.

In the city’s five largest races, female challengers were victorious across the board and, in some instances, defeated male incumbents.

D’Lynda Fischer, a nonprofit consultant and former urban planner, was the only woman running in a seven-person race for three open city council seats. Fischer won a seat along with incumbent Dave King and challenger Kevin McDonnell.

Compared to the mayoral election, the city council results fell in line with expectations for the east-west divide. In fact, business owner Michael Regan was the third-highest vote getter in east Petaluma, yet finished second to last citywide.

While reluctant to think gender was a factor, Fischer acknowledged national sentiments and political attitudes trickling down to Petaluma could have certainly played a part for voters less familiar with the candidates.

“I think it’s the #MeToo movement,” she said. “I think women across the country like me stood up and said, ‘Wait a minute, this is my time. I have the capacity to do this, the knowledge, and so I am going to do this and not let the gender piece of it get in the way.’

“For me it was realizing that shouldn’t hold me back. For many of us raised in a fairly patriarchal environment, it was realizing now is the time to use our voice.”

In the Old Adobe Union School District, a much more amicable race with almost no campaigning, challenger Kimberly Shaver unseated incumbent Anthony John Bendik with 27.1 percent of the vote. She was the second-highest vote getter, trailing retired educator Patsy Knight by less than 300 votes.

Incumbent Joe Stern was also narrowly defeated by two female challengers in the Petaluma Health Care District race, with Crista Barnett Chelemedos and Gabriella Ambrosi earning 36.4 percent and 32.7 percent, respectively.

Perhaps the most resounding statement and push for diversity was made in the race for the Petaluma City Schools Board of Education where Caitlin Quinn, a 25-year-old woman, and Joanna Paun, the city’s first black elected official, scored victories.

All three incumbents, Mike Baddeley, Sheri Chlebowski and Phoebe Ellis, were unseated by challengers Mady Cloud, Paun and Quinn.

For Quinn, voters responded to her genuine approach, she said, and her ownership of character traits that are often muted on the campaign trail.

“I just try to be as authentic and real as possible with people,” she said. “You’re not magically smarter just because you’re running for office. I’m still just a human figuring things out. I think people really resonated with that.”

Sobel contends the school board race was less about identity politics, and more in response to the backlash following the Petaluma High School graduation ceremony when valedictorian Lulabel Seitz had her mic cut when she went off-script.

“The Petaluma School Board had run afoul of the teacher’s union and a lot of parents after the valedictorian mic was cutoff … and their refusal to address it publicly was a huge mistake,” he said. “I think there was seething anger that resulted in complete turnover.”

(Contact News Editor Yousef Baig at yousef.baig@arguscourier.com or 776-8461, and on Twitter @YousefBaig.)

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