NEWSROOM

Adams defeats Mazzoni in supes race

Nels Johnson | June 8, 2010

Susan Adams won re-election to a third term on the Marin County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, beating challenger Kerry Mazzoni by 503 votes.

With all 35 San Rafael-area precincts reporting, Supervisor Adams had 5,381 votes, or 52 percent of those cast, and Mazzoni, 4,878.

"It was a tough race but we pulled it off," a buoyant Adams said over the phone as San Rafael supporters cheered in the background. "It's not a landslide but it's enough of a win that I feel good."

Adams, boosted by a campaign fueled by more than $110,000 from employee unions, attributed her win to a "very strong grassroots effort and deep roots in the community" as well as a record of local service over the past eight years.

Mazzoni said she fell short even though "I had a great campaign with wonderful people," and added she wished Adams the very best.

"I'm proud of the way I handled the race," she said, adding it was "hard to overcome $150,000 in independent expenditure committee funding" by an employee union boosting Adams.

Adams, 53, a political newcomer when she ran against Joe Nation in a 2000 primary for Assembly, lost that race but squeezed into a supervisorial runoff two years later and went on to rally voters fearful of the St. Vincent-Silveira housing development, beating San Rafael City Councilman Paul Cohen by 726 votes. She was unopposed for re-election four years ago.

Mazzoni, 61, a fiery education advocate who served seven years on the Novato school board, then beat incumbent Vivien Bronshvag in a 1994 Democratic Assembly primary by 851 votes, served six years as a state legislator before stepping aside in 2000 due to term limits. She then became secretary of education in the cabinet of Gov. Gray Davis, and later launched a lobbying business based in San Rafael.

Both women are activist Democrats, but Adams had the union vote locked up, with a campaign financed by more than $100,000 from a single employee union, the Service Employees International Union health care political committee.

Adams, a maternity nurse, has gone to bat for employees including low-paid in-home health care workers whose jobs are threatened by budget cuts, while Mazzoni's call for sweeping reform raised eyebrows among employee groups. At last report, Adams' supporters had spent more than $153,000, almost twice as much as the Mazzoni camp, which included business and construction industry groups. Adams' re-election preserves the liberal balance of power on the county board, where she is among a left-wing majority.

Mazzoni was the more moderate candidate but entered the race just several days before the filing deadline after declaring two weeks before she had no interest in running

The two candidates waged an increasingly contentious campaign that assaulted San Rafael area residents with a relentless blizzard of controversial campaign mailers, many dispatched by the union to attack Mazzoni.

Mazzoni said the county's entry into the energy business was a roll of the dice that put taxpayers at risk in an era of economic distress, but Adams said it will provide cleaner electricity at equivalent cost. Adams backed a move aimed at banning plastic bags and taxing paper bags, while Mazzoni did not. The two have conflicting views on plans for a $100 million public safety building next to Civic Center, with Mazzoni advocating a less expensive program at another site.

They also differed on the county pension system. Mazzoni said the county must scrap the program for new hires, replacing it with a less expensive 401k-style plan that takes taxpayers off the hook. Adams balked at pursuing a local 401K-style system.