Early election results in favor of recalling two Santa Cruz City Council members

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) The recall of two Santa Cruz City Council members rests in the hands of voters with the polls now closed. Early results are not in favor of Drew Glover or Chris Krohn staying on the Santa Cruz City Council but Glover says it’s not over just yet.

They’re hopeful ballots that haven’t been counted will push them ahead.

Early results show 56 percent are in favor of recalling Glover and 54
percent for Krohn. But despite these numbers, Drew Glover told KION he’s glad that more than 40 percent of voters supported him and Krohn.

He’s not losing hope with the mail in, provisional and same day registration
votes still yet to be counted.

“I am confident and hopeful that we will be able to overcome the recall and
a lot of the money and misinformation that’s been used to mislead voters,” Glover said.

Santa Cruz United is the group that led the recall efforts. In a statement to KION, Dan Coughlin with the campaign, said "Our campaign is encouraged by the results at this time and remain watchful as the remainder of the votes are tallied."

The Ross camp was one of the major issues Santa Cruz United brought up as
grounds for the recall. They said votes against closure of the Ross camp were concerning for public health and safety.

Glover testified in court about the camp. But Glover said there was no where else for the homeless to go.

“It was an unethical and immoral thing to do to close the camp, and I, in no
way, could allow myself to be associated or an accomplice in that closure
without adequate and ample shelter,” Glover said.

Candidates Renée Golder and Katherine Beiers may replace Glover and Krohn if recalled, according to early results.

Beiers served on the council for 16 years. She ran at the request of friends and politicians, but supports efforts to stop the recall. She says recalls should be used for very serious situations.

“I didn’t find this one and I’m sorry it didn’t get nipped and maybe some
other way of handling it. Instead what it did is it just split the
community. It was awful,” Beiers said.

The mail-in, provisional and same-day registration ballot votes must still be tallied before the results are final.

The results will be finalized by March 31.