The final certified results of the November 3 election have been released by the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters Office, indicating that 21 new city council members or mayors throughout the county will be sworn into office later this month.
In Adelanto, incumbent Joy Jeannette hung onto her council post with 2,060 votes or 15.43 percent of those cast. Planning Commissioner Daniel Ramos captured first in the field of ten candidates, registering 2,858 votes or 21.41 percent of the 13,347 total votes cast. He will replace incumbent Ed Camargo, who did not run this year. Also-rans in the race were Diane Esmeralda with 1,910 votes or 14.31 percent; Tonya Edwards, with 1,427 votes or 10.69 percent; Tracy Hernandez, with 1,084 votes or 8.12 percent; Jacquelin Diaz, with 684 votes or 5.1 percent; Roy Isaiah II with 391 votes or 2.93 percent; Dominic Cisneros, with 592 votes or 4.44 percent; Edward Reyes, with 504 votes or 3.78 percent; and Planning Commissioner JayShawn Johnson, with 1,837 votes or 13.76 percent.
In Apple Valley, incumbents Larry Cusack and Art Bishop were unopposed in their District 1 and District 2 races.
In Barstow, incumbent Mayor Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre, with 2,199 or 31.58 percent of the 6,964 votes cast, was chased from office by Paul Anthony Courtney, with 3,040 votes or 43.65 percent. Running in third and fourth in the races were Nahaniel H. Pickett, Sr. with 911 votes or 13.08 percent and Virginia Brown with 811 votes or 11.65 percent.
In Barstow’s District 3, where a councilmember was chosen, essentially, to replace former Councilman Richard Harpole, who resigned in December 2019 to move to Texas, Barbara Mae Rose, with 1,064 or 38 percent of the 1,716 total votes counted, soundly overcame Leonard Williams, with 652 votes or 38 percent.
In Barstow’s District 4, incumbent Councilwoman Carmen Hernandez, who captured 549 votes or 35.88 percent of the 1,530 total votes, was edged by Marilyn Dyer Kruse with 570 votes or 37.25 percent. Martha O’Brien came in third with 411 votes or 26.86 percent.
In Big Bear, Alan Lee, with 291 votes or 61.26 percent of the total votes cast in District 1, bested Maureen Auer, who polled 184 votes or 38.74 percent.
In Big Bear Lake’s District 5, incumbent Bob Jackowski, who claimed 165 or 33.81 percent, was convincingly defeated by Bynette Mote, with 323 votes or 66.19 percent.
Longtime Chino Mayor Eunice M. Ulloa, the incumbent, with 26,409 votes or 77.26 percent, whupped Christopher E. Hutchinson, who collected 7,773 votes or 22.74%
In the Chino City Council District 1 race, newcomer Christopher A. Flores, with 3,521 votes or 54.18 percent, ousted the incumbent, Paul A. Rodriguez, with 2,978 votes or 45.82 percent.
In the Chino City Council District 4 contest, Councilman Tom Haughey did not seek reelection, which allowed former Chino Police Chief Karen C. Comstock to post an easy victory in which she brought in 5,086 votes or 53.87 percent, well above the totals of Anthony M. Honore, with 1,121 votes or 11.87 percent; Erksine S. Dunson, who captured 1,294 votes or 13.71%; and Brandy Jones, who captured second placed with 1,940 votes or 20.55 percent.
In the Chino Hills City Council race for District 3, incumbent Art Bennett easily outdistanced all challengers as he polled 4,063 votes or 59.6 percent to Sabir Taqi’s 689 votes or 10.11 percent; James Gallagher’s, 1,665 votes or 24.42%; and Tyler Francis Shields’ 400 votes or 5.87 percent.
In Chino Hills’ District 5, incumbent Cynthia Moran faced no competition.
In Colton’s District 3 and District 6 races, incumbents Kenneth Koperski and Isaac Suchil were unopposed. In District 5, incumbent Jack Woods, with 1,011 votes or 30.12 percent, was turned out of office by John Echevarria, who captured 2,346 votes or 69.88 of the 3,357 total votes cast in the district.
In Fontana, incumbent City Councilman Jesse Armendarez forwent seeking reelection this year, instead vying unsuccessfully to become San Bernardino County Fifth District Supervisor. Incumbent City Councilman Jesse Sandoval, competing in the city’s newly created District 2, was retained on the council with 4,241 votes or 30.53 percent of the 13,892 cast in the district, which outran Priscilla Linares’s 2,830 votes or 20.37 percent; Sophia Holguin’s 3,199 votes or 23.03 percent; Jenique Sanders’ 738 votes or 5.31 percent; and Jesse Cerda’s 2,884 votes or 20.76 percent.
In Fontana’s District 3, Peter Garcia was elected with 8,307 votes or 51.02 percent of the 16,282 votes cast in the district. He thus will replace Armendarez on the council. Finishing behind Garcia were Erick Lopez, with 2,443 votes, or 15 percent; Amy Malone, with 1,750 votes or 10.75 percent; LaShunda Martin, at 1,531 votes or 9.4 percent; Dawn Dooley with 1,029 votes or 6.32%; and Linda Richardson, with 1,222 votes or 7.51 percent.
In Grand Terrace, 11,943 total votes were cast in a race which saw incumbents Bill Hussey, Sylvia Robles and Jeff Allen reelected, with 2,940 votes or 24.62 percent, 2,570 votes or 21.52 percent and 1,827 votes or 15.3 percent, respectively. Jeremy Briggs, with 1,171 votes or 9.8 percent, Ken Stewart, with 1,678 votes or 14.05 percent; and Jeffrey McConnell, with 1,757 votes or 14.71 percent, captured sixth, fifth and fourth place.
In Hesperia, Rebekah Swanson, elected at large in 2016, stood for election in the city’s newly formed District 1 on November 3. She outlasted, with 2,814 votes or 43.56 percent of the 6,460 total votes cast in the district, former City Councilman Mike Leonard, who logged 2,572 votes or 39.81 percent. Running in third was Anthony Rhoades, with 1,074 votes or 16.63 percent.
Larry Bird, also elected at large in 2016 and now serving as the city’s appointed mayor, won in a hard fought campaign against Hesperia School Board Member Mark Dundon. Bird had 4,040 votes or 52.2 percent to Dundon’s 3,669 votes or 47.8 percent.
In Hesperia’s District 4, Brigit Bennington, who ran in a close second place against Jeremiah Brosowske in 2018 and was appointed by the city council to replace him when he was removed as a member of the council in September 2019, ran unopposed in the special race to fill the post for the next two years that was held on November 3.
In the Montclair City Council contest, incumbent Tenice Johnson, with 3,883 votes or 21.98 percent of the 17,665 cast, and Ben Lopez, notching 3,472 votes or 19.65 percent, were elected to four-year terms. Behind them were Michael Tadrous, scoring 2,288 votes or 12.95 percent; Robert E. Pipersky, with 2,589 votes or 14.66%; Juliet Orozco, at 2,518 votes or 14.25%; and Oscar Medina, whose 2,915 votes were 16.5 percent of those counted.
In the polling to determine who would serve the final two years on the term to which former Councilwoman Trish Martinez was elected in November 2018 before her death in September 2019, Martinez’s daughter Coryssa, who was appointed to the post by the council, ran unopposed.
In the balloting for two positions on the Ontario City Council, incumbents Debra Porada, with 33,738 votes or 39.09 percent, and Ruben Valencia, with 27,219 votes or 31.54 percent, bested challengers Norberto Corona, with 7,512 votes or 8.7 percent; and Celina Lopez, with 17,837 votes or 20.67 percent.
In Rancho Cucamonga’s District 1 city council contest, at-large incumbent Sam Spagnolo, with 9,894 votes or 45.12 percent, outdistanced challengers Jon Hamilton’s 7,802 voter endorsements or 35.58 percent and Mark Rush’s 4,232 votes or 19.3 percent.
Lynne Kennedy, the incumbent councilwoman competing in this year’s Rancho Cucamonga District 4 council race, claimed 11,704 votes or 60.07 percent in burying challengers William James Smith Jr., with 4,140 votes or 21.25 percent, and Roger Wong, who managed to capture 3,641 votes or 18.69 percent.
In Redlands, incumbent councilman Eddie Tejeda ran unopposed in District 2.
In District 4, where incumbent Toni Momberger opted out of seeking reelection, Jenna Guzman-Lowery prevailed, grabbing 2,032 votes or 35.99 percent to Lane Schneider’s 1,558 votes or 27.59 percent, Steven Frasher’s 1,193 votes or 21.13 percent; and Ivan Ramirez’s 863 votes or 15.29 percent.
Rialto Mayor Deborah Robertson was handily reelected with 15,558 votes or 47.12 percent, well ahead of former City Councilman Ed Palmer, who had 7,828 votes or 23.71 percent and Lupe Camacho’s 9,631 votes or 29.17 percent.
Incumbent Rialto City Councilmen Andy Carrizales with 12,435 votes or 24.46 percent, and  Rafael Trujillo, with 15,560 votes or 30.6 percent, decidedly turned back challenges by Andrew George Karol, with 4,058 votes or 7.98 percent; Stacy Augustine, with 7,450 votes or 14.65 percent; Michael Taylor, with 6,808 votes or 13.39%; and Theresa Schneider, with 4,532 votes or 8.91 percent.
In San Bernardino’s Ward 5 election, challenger Ben Reynoso, with 5,772 votes or 52.74 percent, outhustled incumbent Henry Nickel, whose 5,172 votes or 47.26 were not enough to keep him in office. Nickel has indicated he will seek a recount.
In San Bernardino’s Ward 7, incumbent Jim Mulvihill, polling 2,874 votes or 34.36 percent,
was decisively defeated by challenger Damon Alexander, whose 5,490 votes accounted for 65.64 percent of those cast.
Nickel and Mulvihill were involved in run-offs last month after they were unable to get a majority of the vote in the election corresponding to the March 3 California Presidential Primary. Also in March, incumbent Third Ward Councilman Juan Figueroa gained reelection while Sixth Ward Councilwoman Bessine Richard was eclipsed by challenger Kimberly Calvin.
In Twentynine Palms District 1, incumbent Councilman Steve Bildrain ran unopposed.
In Twentynine Palms District District 2, challenger Jim Drushat’s 492 votes or 47.77 percent was not quite enough to turn incumbent Councilman Joel Klink, who pulled in 538 votes or 52.23 percent, out of office.
In Upland, where incumbent Councilman Bill Velto, a resident of District 1, chose not to seek election to the council but instead run for mayor, the District 1 race was a head-to-head match-up between Shannan Maust, who captured 8,404 votes of 10,002 cast or 84.02 percent to David Hazelton’s 1,598 votes, or 15.98 percent.
In the specially-held race to fill the gap in Upland’s District 3 following the mid-term resignation of Ricky Felix in May, Carlos Garcia took hold of the office for the next two years with 2,868 votes or 44.59 percent. Lamonta Amos, at 955 votes or 14.85 percent; former Councilman Gino L. Filippi, with 1,126 votes or 17.51 percent; and Tauvaga Hoching, with 1,483 votes or 23.06 percent, rounded out the field.
Velto, with 11,821 votes or 32.99 percent, turned incumbent Mayor Debbie Stone, with 9,353 votes or 26.11 percent, out of office. In a relatively close third was Lois Sicking Dieter, with 8,692 votes or 24.26 percent, followed by former Planning Commissioner Alexander Novikov, whom Stone had sacked earlier this year, with 5,961 votes or 16.64 percent.
In Victorville, where incumbent Jim Cox opted out of seeking reelection, 21 hopefuls entered the race for three positions that involved a field that included incumbent appointed Mayor Gloria Garcia, incumbent Councilwoman Blanca Gomez, former Councilmen Eric Negrete and former Mayor/Councilman Ryan McEachron. Ultimately, Elizabeth Becerra, whose name was at the top of the ballot in the Victorville Council race, finished first with 8,690 votes or 9.48 percent. Blanca Gomez captured second, with 8,548 votes or 9.32 percent. Ultimately, the contest for third place and a position on the council for the next four years came down to a dead heat between Leslie Irving, a transplanted politician from Los Angeles County, and McEachron. With the last of the votes counted, Irving prevailed, but by a razor-thin margin, 6,913 votes or 7.54 percent to McEachron’s 6,892 votes or 7.52 percent. Garcia finished in ninth, with 5,338 votes or 5.82 percent. Negrete came up way short, running in thirteenth place, with 3,271 votes or 3.57 percent. Others in the race were Bob Bowen, Kareema Abdul, Lizet Angulo, Webster Thomas, Craig Timchak, Roger LaPlante, Jerry Laws, Valentin Godina, Mike Stevens, Terrance Stone, Ashiko Newman, Paul Marsh, Kimberly Mesen, Lionel Dew, Adam Verduzco, Jr., and Frank Kelly
Yucaipa City Councilman Bobby Duncan, running in the city’s newly-formed District 3, was granted another four years on the council with 2,512 votes or 64.08 percent. Clifford Gericke ran in third with 405 votes or 10.33 percent, and Lee Kaberlein ran in second, with 1,003 votes or 25.59.
After incumbent Councilwoman Denise Hoyt Allen opted out of seeking reelection, the Yucaipa City Council District 4 race involved Justin Beaver, who won with 3,038 votes or 62.47 percent, running against Stacey Chester, who fell short with 1,825 votes or 37.53 percent.
The Yucaipa City Council, District 5 race was notable this year because challenger Jon Thorp, polling 2,394 votes or 42.42 percent, ousted Councilman Dick Riddell, one of the longest serving elected officials in San Bernardino County, who claimed 2,129 votes or 37.73 percent. Patricia Elbeck, with 430 votes or 7.62 percent, and Craig Suveg, with 690 votes or 12.23 percent, also competed.
In Yucca Valley, Jeff Drozd, who currently holds the distinction of serving as mayor based upon his having been rotated into that position by appointment as the result of a vote of his council colleagues, was locked in a relatively close contest against challenger David Simmons in the town’s District 2 race. Drozd, with 832 votes or 54.24 percent, outlasted Simmons, who finished with a respectable 702 votes or 45.76 percent.
In the town’s District 4 race, incumbent Robert Lombardo captured 669 votes or 36.83 percent to hold off Jeff Brady, who had an impressive showing of support with 592 votes or 31.71 percent. Travis Puglisi ran in third with 380 votes or 20.35 percent, and Myra Kennedy collected 226 votes or 12.1 percent.
-Mark Gutglueck