Measure AA Passes Handily; Most Local Races Offer No Surprises

• Malibu Vote Totals and Precinct Breakdowns Are Still Being Computed by County

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN and BILL KOENEKER

Santa Monica and Malibu voters approved Measure AA, a $295 million bond measure sought by the Santa Monica College district. The measure required 55 percent to pass and received 23,865 votes—slightly more than 62 percent. The funds will be allocated for repairs and construction, and will be used in part to build a new math and earth sciences building.
The three candidates who captured seats on the board of the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School district are top vote-getter and newcomer Ben Allen, who received 27.77 percent of the votes cast, or 20,842 votes; Maria Leon-Vazquez, who garnered 26.73 percent of the total count, or 20,059 votes; and Jose Escarce, who received 17,616 votes, or 22.04 percent.
Challenger Chris Bley, despite having an early lead over Escarce, came in a close fourth with 16,539 votes or 22.04 percent.
Bley raised more campaign money than the other three candidates combined, but the winning trio had all garnered endorsements from a variety of influential organizations, including Santa Monicans for Renters Rights.
In other local races, Assemblymember Julia Brownley easily recaptured a majority of the vote in the 41st District, which includes Malibu. She had 74,971 votes to Republican opponent Mark Bernsley’s 36,638 votes.
In the 23rd District State Senate race, Fran Pavley garnered nearly twice the votes of her two challengers combined, winning over 162,463 votes compared to Republican challenger Rick Montaine’s 64,146 votes, and Libertarian candidate Colin Goldman’s 13,828 votes.
All three incumbents in the race for the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees reclaimed their seats: Susan Aminoff with 19,495 votes, Robert Rader with 18,937 and Margaret Quinones-Perez with 18,195. Challenger Heidi Hoeck trailed with 11,983.
Former Malibu resident Cynthia Loo, who was seeking the Los Angeles Superior Court judgeship for Office No. 82, trailed opponent Thomas Rubinson 965,803 to 1,006,125.
The contest for L.A. Superior Court Office No. 84 was won by Pat Connolly, who received 1,183,835 votes, compared opponent Lori-Ann Jones, with 743,047. Michael Ogage won Office No. 94 with 1,199,429 over C. Edward Mack, who received 689,861 votes. Michael Jesic won the contest for Office No. 154 with 1,206,774 votes over Rocky Crabb with 706,450.
The L.A. Metro Transportation Authority’s Measure R, which required a two-thirds majority, passed with 67 percent of the vote. The measure will increase the county sales tax by half a cent on the dollar to pay for transportation infrastructure, including the controversial “Subway to the Sea” that will run from Santa Monica to the Miracle Mile, theoretically under Wilshire Blvd. Transportation authorities are, however, already cautioning that Measure R construction projects are still years away. They have said that the most immediate effect of Measure R will be a freeze on MTA fare increases.
The Malibu precinct vote breakdown for Tuesday’s election, as well as tallies on national offices, will be published as soon as the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office has completed its computations.