Winders beats Lemas in hotly contested Sonoma Valley school board race

With all ballots counted, Celeste Winders won the race for the Area 2 seat on the Sonoma County Unified School District Board of Trustees, edging Joe Lemas by just 11 votes, the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters Office announced on Friday, Dec. 2.

Winders ended up with 699 votes (38.64%), compared with 688 (38.03%) for Lemas and 422 (23.3%) for Jacquelyn Torres, according to the office, which certified the vote from the Nov. 8 elections.

Winders moved into the lead for the first time last week, with 693 votes (38.82%), compared with Lemas’ 681 votes (38.15%) and Torres’ 411 votes (23.03%).

“I am very happy to be able to serve Sonoma Valley children and our public schools for the next four years,” Winders said. “The kids have always been my North Star in everything I do, and I continue to keep that focus on them. It is a team effort; we do none of this work alone. It is going to take the entire community working together for the benefit of our kids.”

A mother of four children and professional advocate for students, Winders said that as a board member, boosting literacy and math proficiency will be a top priority.

“We must not only have really honest discussion about this and really dive into the data, but we also need to develop solutions that have built in progress monitoring,” she said. “If progress is not being made or if it dips, we need to be able to come back together and adjust course, and keep forward momentum.”

Lemas, a stay-at-home dad with a history in banking and mortgage lending, was looking forward to serving as a trustee.

“Of course, I’m disappointed,” he said. “I hoped that I could make it to the board and affect the quality of education in the district, but the voters have spoken, and have chosen Celeste.”

Despite Winders’ minuscule margin of victory, Lemas confirmed an earlier statement that he will not request a recount.

“Doing so would tell the registrar of voters ‘we don’t trust what you did,’ and that’s not what this is all about,” he said. “One of the people on my team was surprised that I won’t request a recount, but I trust the voters and the registrar’s office that made the count.”

When asked if any of his supporters intend to request a recount, he said, “No member of my team will request a recount. If someone else wants to do it, that’s up to them.”

Even in tight races, recounts are not automatic in California, nor is it listed in the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters’ 2021 Election Administration Plan.

Now that the election is certified, any registered voter may request a recount within five days (until Wednesday, Dec. 7), and it would take place in the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters Office. The person requesting a recount is responsible for paying for it, although the money would be returned if the recount changes the outcome of the election.

“The actual recount would need to begin no more than seven days after the request is received,” said Registrar of Voters Deva Proto. “How long the recount would take depends on the method and order of the recount requested, and what materials are part of the request.”

No more than two representatives of each interested party would be allowed to check and review the preparation, testing and operation of the tabulating devices, and to attend any or all phases of the recount.

The recount would need to take place daily — except for Saturdays, Sundays and holidays — for a minimum of six hours per day, until it is completed. An elections official would set the daily schedule for the recount, including hours of operation as well as approximate break and lunch times, in accordance with the requirements of California Elections Code section 15626.

Winders won the board seat that is being vacated by Melanie Blake. Catarina Landry was the only candidate who filed to run for the Area 1 seat on the board, so she and Winders are expected to take their oath of office at the Tuesday, Dec. 13 SVUSD board meeting.

Reach the reporter, Dan Johnson, at daniel.johnson@sonomanews.com.