Santa Cruz County Elections & Politics Overview

Would the measure generate enough money for the county to make it worthwhile?

Council questions costs of proposed tax on vacant homes

WATSONVILLE—Near the tail end of a largely uneventful first read-through of the proposed budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year on June 14, Watsonville City Council members gave themselves a nominal pay increase that sparked a discussion about how their compensation …

Hundreds of people gathered on the steps of the Santa Cruz County Courthouse on Friday evening to protest the decision made hours earlier by the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the nationwide right to abortion. “It’s appalling that people …

The links between homelessness and crime are complex, and the idea that unhoused individuals present a danger to their community seems to be exaggerated.

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY—As votes continue to be added to the county’s election results, the outcomes of local races and measures has remained unchanged: four Supervisor candidates are headed to a November runoff, three measures passed with a wide margin while …

Do California's election results in Los Angeles and San Francisco mean this blue state is flirting with turning red? That's what the national media is trying to say. But there's a lot more to the story.

A rainbow flag was waving above Scotts Valley City Hall by 10:15am on June 2—it marked the culmination of a year of work on a ceremonial flag policy. Still, a surprise political tactic the previous night at the council meeting …

Half of the ballots have been counted—the runoff race has begun

California mailed out more than 22 million ballots to registered voters ahead of Tuesday's primary election. But as of Friday, just 4.5 million had been counted.