Final Certified Election Results: Crye Has Survived the Recall, Long Will Take Garman’s Seat
The Shasta County Board majority will remain the same, for now.
A balloon placed in the Shasta County Board chambers welcomed Supervisor Kevin Crye to his new role as Board Chair in January. Photo by Annelise Pierce.
This is a developing story. Updates are ongoing.
March 29, 8:34 am: We have updated the story to correct a date.
On March 28 at 2 pm, Shasta County’s Assistant County Clerk and Registrar of Voters, Joanna Francescut, announced the county’s certified March 5 election results. These results are final and official under California law.
County Board Supervisor Kevin Crye has survived his attempted recall by only fifty votes. In response to a request for comment from Shasta Scout, Crye said he plans to share his thoughts via a Facebook live tonight, March 28, at 6 pm.
Meanwhile, recall proponents have released a statement indicating they trust the elections results.
“Roughly a quarter of the voters in Shasta County District One voted to recall Supervisor Kevin Crye,” said a statement released by the Committee to Recall Kevin Crye. “Only a few voters more opted to keep him in office . . . We encourage all supervisors to represent all of the people of Shasta County and we will remain vigilant in seeing to it that that is done.”
On Friday, March 29, the Recall Kevin Crye Committee confirmed they won’t ask for a recount of the recall votes.
“Having full faith in the Shasta County Registrar of Voters office, the Committee to Recall Kevin Crye will not request a recount of the incredibly close District 1 recall vote.”
In District 2, Allen Long has won the primary by only 13 votes. He will take Supervisor Tim Garman’s seat in January 2025. Long told Shasta Scout he was relieved to have the election results finalized and is not concerned about whether a potential recount, should his opponents seek one, would change the final result.
“Historically our registrar has been incredibly accurate,” Long said. “It’s really close but I have faith in our elections department that they got it right.”
Long’s top competitor, Laura Hobbs, who received 19% of the votes, as compared to Long’s 51%, attended a Friday afternoon press conference where certified results were announced and asked a number of questions about vote counts in her District. Hobbs did not respond to questions from the media about whether she will seek a recount.
Long said he also supports the election results when it comes to the outcome of the Crye recall vote, explaining that elections usually involve a variety of outcomes for each side, but the results coming from the Shasta County Elections Office can be trusted.
“I listened to a lot of conspiracy theories at the latest board meeting,” Long explained, “and I just don’t happen to agree with them. It was a fair election and the results speak for themselves. Of course it’s close but it was legitimate.”
At least a dozen community members shared concerns about the elections process during Shasta County’s March 26Board meeting. They voiced opinions on a variety of election-related topics, ranging from California’s lack of voter identification requirements to the process by which voter rolls across the state are updated. Almost all of their complaints had to do with policies that are set at the federal or state levels, not the county level.
Patty Plumb, a regular speaker at county board meetings who supports the idea of Shasta County seceding from the state, summed up local election concerns this way.
“If you haven’t figured it out by now,” Plumb said. “We don’t necessarily have a problem with what’s happening in Shasta County.
“We have a problem with the state of California, Gavin Newsom, (Secretary of State) Shirley Webber, (Attorney General) Rob Bonta,” she continued, “So we are addressing issues within our county because of the unconstitutional laws that are in place (in our state).”
Plumb, like most of those who spoke to the board, did not address specific issues with the Shasta County Elections Office during her three-minute public comment, focusing on larger election issues instead.
But a few speakers, including candidate Hobbs, did express concerns with the local elections office and the leadership of the current Registrar of Voters, Cathy Darling Allen. One speaker suggested that the Shasta County voter rolls should emptied of names and all voters re-registered while another speaker suggested that the board should “clean house” at the Elections Office by firing the majority of the staff.
With the recall attempt against Crye having failed, the board’s current majority will remain unchanged through the end of 2024. Those newly elected to the board will take their seats in January, including Matt Plummer, who will take Supervisor Patrick Jones’ seat in District 4, and Long, who will take Garman’s seat in District 2.
Both are conservative candidates, but neither is likely to be described as hard right. In contrast, Crye and Kelstrom, who will both retain their seats through the end of 2026, have made a number of decisions that even conservatives like Plummer and Allen disagree with, including canceling the county’s contract for Dominion voting machines to “restore trust in elections” and voting to allow guns in Shasta County’s government buildings, including the board chambers.
In November, the board majority’s balance between conservative and “hard right” ideology will come down to whom voters choose in District 3, where Supervisor Mary Rickert, a conservative who usually opposes the current board majority, will face off against her top competitor in the primary, Corkey Harmon.
Rickert received about 43% of the District 3 vote. She decided to run for office for the third time relatively late in the primary process, saying she had been unable to find someone with similar values who was willing to run for her seat on the board given Shasta County’s current tense political climate.
Next Tuesday, April 2, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors will be asked to declare the certified election results as part of supervisor’s ministerial duties. But the board’s vote to declare the already-certified election results is not necessary to make those results valid, the California Secretary of State’s office confirmed for Shasta Scout on March 15.
You can find the full final March 5 Shasta County election results here. A final statement of the vote which will show details including how many ballots were tallied as part of the manual count audit, is still pending. We will update here.
Have questions, concerns, or comments you’d like to share with us directly? Reach out: editor@shastascout.org.
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Good Job Scout, thank you!
The facts:
1. Once again, All The Staff At Shasta County Elections did a wonderful job in a very divided and polarized political environment (even dangerous), and no, the election deniers are once again proven wrong even election deniers like P. Plumb are changing their rhetoric, “If you haven’t figured it out by now,” Plumb said. “We don’t necessarily have a problem with what’s happening in Shasta County.” This is a huge step toward reality coming from Plumb who told me, “All elections are rigged, period.” But, the BIG LIE continues. Under Trump, RNC employees are now being asked if they believe the 2020 election was stolen, constituting the BIG LIE “litmus test.” The BIG LIE didn’t work for local L. Hobbs or her sidekick Jones; many people are so tired of that nonsense.
2. Your vote does make a difference. More people signed the Recall Petition than voted for it. Crye won by 90 votes last time only won by 50 votes this time, and no, you won’t hear the Recall Org. sniveling, “FRAUD! Recount Now!” Voting is the basic civic responsibility of all eligible Americans. Not voting is unpatriotic!
3. Hang on folks; locally, it’s going to get worse. Expect the local Extreme-Right community to think they now have a mandate from GOD to push for the State of Jefferson, push for a Hand-Count lawsuit against the State Of Ca. and even though Shasta County is one of the most armed communities in the United States, (America now has over 400 MILLION guns), expect Jones, one of the biggest suppliers of guns in the county, to push for reduction and or elimination of gun laws in Shasta Co; and make Shasta Co. Taxpayers pay the cost to do so.
4. Pray to your GOD or whatever your Higher Power is that our Local Gun Packing Extremism doesn’t lead to any more death threats or any violence. We are at risk.
Annelise- Like Stewart said, journalism that allows the minority voice to be heard and considered, holding government’s feet to the fire, is what we all need. You clearly strive to report more than traditional news outlets. Thank you for providing that to the residents and taxpayers of Shasta County.
The reporting you have put forth has helped me to become more informed about local politics than I’ve ever been, in great part because what you report is real and worth reading. And it has made me feel like my own voice has been heard. Thank you for being diligent in your fact finding to provide a source of trustworthy information.
Is this publication the opposite of the News Cafe? That rag is so far left even the birds won’t poop on it in their cages, It is fun to comment on though…
Mary rickert take the high road and withdraw from the election. You have served two terms.
So let the people choose who is best qualified. Do you need default to win. Is your vote more important than mine?
How do you consider resigning ‘taking the high road’?
Allen Long is not a conservative. He isn’t even a registered Republican. He was not endorsed by a single conservative group and the same liberals that were behind the failed recall of Kevin Crye endorsed and gave money to Long’s campaign. He never even attended a BOS meeting until last week, but he has lots of opinions about how he would do things better.
Paul, I think his interview on Shasta Scout shows him to have pretty traditionally conservative views.
For the citizens who do not oppose machines because it cost too much to hand count.
I asked those citizens why did you waste time and money to recall Kevin Crye? That’s all you cared about was those stupid machines. You didn’t care about the other good things Crye did for the county..
What a waste of time and money for the elections board.
Allen Long and Matt Plummer don’t sound conservative to me. The article indicates they support the State law (SB2) that takes away CCW holders right to carry in County buildings. This was always allowed by the State until Jan. 1 of this year. Fortunately Supervisors passed an ordinance that allows CCW holders to carry in County buildings.
It sounds like Mr Plummer and Mr. Allen have a lot to learn about election issues and the highly flawed and hackable Dominion equipment.
AGREE!
Please Define Hard Right
Labeling people based on issues is the politics and journalism of the day. It’s tribalism which leads to division and polarization and worse. It’s worse, when minority opinions are silenced or cancelled thereby furthering false narratives that may cause real harm. The media in concert with the government pushed the narrative that the covid-19 vaccines were safe and effective labeling/canceling critics rather than publishing their valid concerns. It has now been shown that shutting down non essential business did nothing to save lives. Think how much misery was caused by this. The media failed to hold the government’s feet to the fire. We need to hear and consider minority opinions. That is what good governance requires. So let’s stop with the labels.
Stewart: I agree that labelling is counter-productive and I rarely use political lablels but I struggled here to find the right language to describe the ideological divide between individuals like Plummer and Jones. Would you be able to suggest better language?
Jon: This is a term Mr. Crye has used to describe himself and others in speaking with me in the past, which is why I chose it here. How would you suggest I better describe the ideological divide between Mr. Plummer and Mr. Jones?
A fair, accurate election in Shasta County that came at a high price. Our Clerk is ending a distinguished career of public service due to constant vicious harassment from other elected officials and citizens. Cathy deserves much better.
Steve, you are correct. Cathy Darling Allen has done an outstanding job during her long public service, and she certainly deserves better than she has received. I feel that her treatment has been a disgrace to Shasta County in addition to being unfair and cruel to Ms. Allen.