Little San Benito County a bellwether again
Hollister, Ca.,_ Over the last five or six years this small county (pop. 60,000) has become the standard for measuring California on turnout and statewide votes.
Over the next few days it will be determined if it was done again. One thing that is new in this year’s election is that San Benito mirrored the Latino surge in civic action and voter turnout.
Two Latinos won elections in that county on Tuesday. Incumbent Jaime De La Cruz was returned for a second term winning over 60% of the vote. Four years ago he beat out the incumbent by 10 votes. He underwent a lot of studying and preparation as he learned to govern from the needs of his constituents and to stand for the issues he believes are good for his district and community. Local leaders were there to mentor and coach him along the way. Meanwhile, former Hollister School Board member Margie Barrios was winning her race for another supervisorial seat by capturing over 55% of the vote in a district with a relatively low Latino population. San Benito is one of the few counties in California that will have two of five board members who are Latinos. That bodes well for the county and for California; San Benito is a quiet leading community in California and remains a bellwether in every way.
