Despite having a massive financial advantage and the backing of powerful Democratic Party and union allies, Santa Rosa Assemblyman Michael Allen lost his bid for another term to a relative political unknown.

In the final tally of votes for the Sebastopol City Council, John Eder beat out incumbent Kathleen Shaffer for the second open seat on the council. Eder, a representative of Boise Mobile Equipment, won 1,992 votes, or 25.1 percent, while Shaffer received 1,930 votes, or 24.3 percent.

In the final tally of November election ballots, Santa Rosa attorney Jenni Klose has won a seat on the Santa Rosa School Board, beating out fellow local attorney Brian Noble by 955 votes.

Final election results released Friday confirmed Nov. 6 numbers showing first-time candidate Kathy Miller bested incumbent Tiffany Renée for a spot on the Petaluma City Council.

Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Susan Gorin has sealed her victory over rival Santa Rosa Councilman John Sawyer in the 1st District Sonoma County supervisor’s race. Gorin led Sawyer by 1,299 a day after the election. She increased that margin by 483 votes in the final results released by the county Friday.

Even as his opponent prepares to be sworn into office Monday, Michael Allen reiterated that he won’t concede the race for the 10th Assembly District seat until every last vote is counted. That could happen by Friday, when an estimated 15,000 provisional and absentee ballots in Sonoma County finally are tallied and the results of the Nov. 7 election are certified, according to county elections chief Janice Atkinson.
Odds are the outstanding ballots won’t alter the outcome of the race. At last count, San Rafael City Councilman Marc Levine held a slim but statistically significant lead over Allen of 3,468 votes.

In his bid to unseat incumbent Democratic Assemblyman Mike Allen, San Rafael City Councilman Marc Levine, also a Democrat, has strengthened his lead. But Allen is not conceding the race, despite Levine’s declaration of victory and the consistent lead he’s held since Election Day.

Petaluma Vice Mayor Tiffany Renée isn’t conceding the election quite yet.
After mail-in ballots and precinct votes were counted early Wednesday morning, Renée, seeking reelection to one of three City Council seats on the Nov. 6 ballot, was in fourth place, behind newcomer Kathy Miller by 1,026 votes.
If the vote holds, it would oust Renée, although she said Friday she still holds out hope. She estimates about 5,000 late absentee votes haven’t been tallied.

Patrick Maloney, a junior at Sonoma State University, woke up Wednesday morning to a pleasant surprise.
California voters had approved Proposition 30, the statewide tax measure backed by Gov. Jerry Brown to raise about $6 billion a year for education.
For thousands of state university students, it meant money in the bank: specifically a $249 refund of a tuition fee increase they paid this fall.
For Maloney, a 20-year-old political science major from Sacramento, it also was a payoff for a successful campaign to register more than 1,000 SSU students to vote in Tuesday’s election.

The great flaw in our democracy is that the majority can always vote to take a disproportionate price from a minority. Everyone’s vote counts the same regardless of your contributions. Legislating morality, taxing success and generally narcissistic behavior are the great issues of our time.