Ballots are in the mail: three vie for Sonoma's District 1 council seat
The city's first district-based election puts one contested race on the ballot; the Districts 3 and 5 contests were decided by appointment.
SONOMA: Ballots for the November 3 general election are landing in mailboxes across the North Bay, and Sonoma voters will find exactly one contested City Council race waiting for them. In District 1, three candidates are vying for a four-year seat: Peggy Hutton, Julian Mackie and Michael L. Menefee.
The county Registrar of Voters lists Hutton as a business owner, Mackie as a nonprofit executive director and Menefee as a retired firefighter paramedic. All three qualified during the nomination period that closed August 7, and each filed a candidate statement for the county guide.
This is the first City Council election conducted under Sonoma's new district-based election system. Voters in Districts 1, 3 and 5 elect one council member each this year, to four-year terms running through 2030. Districts 2 and 4 hold their first district elections in 2028.
The Districts 3 and 5 races never made the ballot. With only one candidate nominated in each, the council cancelled those elections under state Elections Code section 10229 and, in an August update, appointed John Gurney to the District 3 seat and Ron Wellander to the District 5 seat. That leaves District 1 as the city's only open contest.
For voters, two dates matter most. The registration deadline is October 19: a registration must be postmarked or submitted electronically by then to count for the November election. And city offices are non-partisan, so the council race appears without party labels.
District 1 residents unsure which district they live in can check the city's online District Finder; the clerk's office notes the tool exists for exactly this purpose in the city's first district election year. The Post will report results on election night.
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