Mayor Ernesto Olivares and Councilman Gary Wysocky will return to their seats on Santa Rosa’s City Council, joined by two challengers, neighborhood activist Julie Combs and attorney Erin Carlstrom.

Supervisor Efren Carrillo’s resounding re-election victory is an unmistakable sign of the political clout he has been able to amass in his first term, observers said Wednesday. The 31-year-old son of Mexican immigrants captured 59 percent of the vote in the 5th District Supervisorial race, beating back two well-known opponents who challenged his environmental voting record. His final vote tally was significantly more than the 50 percent majority he needed to avoid a November runoff.

UPDATED: Incumbent Efren Carrillo jumped out to a large lead Tuesday night in the 5th District Board of Supervisors race and held on, winning 59 percent of the vote. Former supervisor Ernie Carpenter was in second place. The third candidate in the race was former Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Veronica Jacobi.

The two challengers trying to unseat Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo both say the current Board of Supervisors has been too slow in dealing with the current pension crisis.

Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo has raised far more money than his two challengers and all other candidates vying for local elected office, newly disclosed campaign finance records show. Facing the surprise challenge of a former supervisor, Carrillo, 31 and nearing his first full term in office, gunned his campaign into action, raising in just two months $92,322 and spending $95,406. He still has $73,566 in the bank, records covering March 18 through May 19 show. The activity dwarfs that of his that two opponents, former 5th District Supervisor Ernie Carpenter and former Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Veronica Jacobi.

Some say this election flier some is a hit piece. The Efren Carrillo campaign mass mailer asserts that former Sonoma County Supervisor Ernie Carpenter is “running fast and loose with the facts” and that his “campaign rhetoric is ‘Hogwash.’” What do you think?

When Ernie Carpenter entered the race two months ago to challenge first-term incumbent Efren Carrillo, he both shocked the district and pleased one of its biggest constituencies — the conservation and environmental community. Environmentalists had been concerned that Carrillo’s opponent, former Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Veronica Jacobi, was no match for Carrillo’s four years in office and his ability to raise money. Carrillo rejects attempts to characterize him as pro-development at the expense of the environment.

Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo and former Supervisor Ernie Carpenter traded sharp jabs Wednesday night over a controversial timber-to-vineyard conversion project that is sure to become a key election issue in the race for the 5th District supervisorial seat. The issue — and the intensity of the exchanges in a bid to win environmental votes in the west county district — took center stage in a candidates’ forum in Graton that included former Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Veronica Jacobi.

John Sawyer and Susan Gorin, the two Santa Rosa-based candidates who are seeking to replace retiring Sonoma County Supervisor Valerie Brown, have opened up sizeable fundraising leads on their opponents. New campaign finance reports filed Thursday reveal a geographic split between the candidates for the 1st District supervisorial seat.

One day after former Sonoma County Supervisor Ernie Carpenter shocked many local residents by announcing his bid for his old west county seat, Efren Carrillo — who holds that seat — said he is undaunted and will campaign hard for a second term.