Vallejo mayor’s race is neck and neck

VALLEJO – The two top candidates in the Vallejo mayor’s race were locked in a nail-bitingly close bid for election that remained razor thin after Election Day ballots were counted Tuesday, according to preliminary election results released by the Solano County Registrar of Voters.

Former Councilmember Pippin Dew opened up a narrow lead over Surveillance Advisory Board Chair Andrea Sorce of just 45 votes as of Tuesday night. Sorce had started the night with a slight lead after mail-in votes were counted, but Dew pulled ahead with the Election Day returns, leaving the race too close to call.

Two other candidates, local business owner Dwight Monroe Jr. and community advocate Ravi Shankar, lagged far behind. Monroe received 16% of the vote and Shankar received 6.9%.

Sorce had campaigned as a change agent who would bring increased accountability to the city while Dew touted her deep experience and connections with elected officials and businesses. 

“I’m proud of the campaign we ran,” Sorce said at her election watch party at Bambino’s restaurant shortly before the results were released. “We brought so many people together from so many different parts of the community – people who wanted change. It has been such a team effort from campaign donations to volunteers this has truly been about people power.” 

“It’s great that she is nearly 200 votes ahead,” Kris Kelley, who co-founded the Solano County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union with Sorce, said after the first results were released. “So many people have come out to support her for police reform and for change and to see Vallejo thriving and not just surviving.”

The positive mood among Sorce’s supporters did not ebb even as her lead declined and people began to head home. 

Dew gathered with her supporters at the Vallejo Brewing Company downtown to monitor election results. They were glued to their phones checking for updates, hoping that the next would give Dew the lead. When Dew pulled ahead at about 10 p.m., there was enthusiasm that perhaps the momentum would continue. 

After Dew confirmed that she did indeed have a slight lead after trailing by a small margin most of the night, she said, “I feel nervous and excited and scared, all at the same time.”

“It’s important that Pippin Wins,” Dew supporter Tina Fowler said, “because she is the only candidate that has the connections both inside and outside the city to move us forward.”

Monroe remained enthusiastic throughout the night and hopeful that he could still bounce back from a somewhat distant third place. “I’m an optimist, I stay positive. It’s all about positivity,” he said.

In another Vallejo City Council race on Tuesday, nonprofit executive Alex Matias took a big lead of 48.6% over Alameda County District Attorney’s investigator Charles Bonner, who received 29.8% of the vote, and retired HR director Brenda Plechaty, who received 21.7%. Despite the big lead, Matias declined comment on Tuesday.

The winner will represent District 1, which includes the Hiddenbrooke and Northgate neighborhoods.

For District 6, which represents South Vallejo, two candidates were also locked in a race that remained too close to call. Vallejo Housing Authority tenant commissioner Helen-Marie “Cookie” Gordon had a slight lead Tuesday night over incumbent Councilmember Cristina Arriola.

Gordon started the night behind Arriola, but after Election Day votes were counted she led 50.9%-49.1%, or by 63 votes. 

The Solano County Registrar of Voters estimated there were 76,500 ballots still outstanding countywide, but it’s unclear how many of them are for Vallejo.