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The Nov. 6 ballot will see highly contested races for the Morgan Hill City Council this election.
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No incumbents filed to run for re-election, which extended the candidate filing period five days.
There are three races in the Morgan Hill city election this November—including the mayoral one—and all had candidates who filed by the Aug. 10 deadline.
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In 2017 new districts were drawn in the city of Morgan Hill when a lawsuit was threatened under the California Voting Rights Act. The districts were drawn so all incumbents would be given the opportunity to run for re-election within their district. Both incumbents in this election have chosen not to run, either giving up public work or pursuing a higher office in city government.
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Rich Constantine and Caitlin Robinett Jachimowicz will not be running to keep their current council seats, but Constantine has filed to run for mayor.
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The race for mayor and for city council Districts B and D will each have three candidates competing.
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For the mayoral seat, Constantine will run against Greg Sellers and Kirk Bertolet. Sellers previously served on the council for 12 years, beginning in 1998. Bertolet ran unsuccessfully for Mayor in 2016 and also spearheaded an unsuccessful campaign for a 10-year term limit for the office.
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Mayor Steve Tate will not seek re-election, having served in the position since 2006. Tate announced shortly after winning his last re-election bid in 2016 that he will retire when his current term is over.
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In District B, the candidates are Kenneth Murray, Matthew Lowenstein and Yvonne Martinez Beltran. Murray is an associate for the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce; Martinez Beltran currently serves as vice chairperson for the Morgan Hill Planning Commission.
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District B incumbent Constantine was first elected to the council in 2010.
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The three candidates running in district D are John McKay, Julie Makrai Hutcheson and
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Marilyn Librers. McKay is a resident member of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. Librers has previously served two terms on the Morgan Hill City Council. Hutcheson is an environmental advocate who has previously worked for Committee for Green Foothills.
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Jachimowicz is the incumbent for District D. She was appointed to the seat in early 2017, after Councilmember Gordon Siebert resigned after serving two years of his four-year term. Jachimowiz announced she would not be seeking another term, leaving her seat open for any potential candidates living within District D.
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In order to vote by mail in the Nov. 6 election, a request for a mail-in ballot must be made by Oct. 30. For the ballot to be counted it must be postmarked on or before Nov. 6, and received within three days of the election.
