Alessio Sails to Easy Victory in Napa County Board of Supervisors Race, With Remaining Board Contests Undecided

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Napa City Councilmember Liz Alessio seems headed to victory in the race for the District 2 seat in the county Board of Supervisors.

With roughly 20% of the votes in late Tuesday night, Alessio was at 76%, more than 50 points ahead of her opponent, retired educator Doris Gentry.

“It’s way beyond what I hoped,” Alessio told hundreds of supporters at her election night party at the historic Hatt Building in downtown Napa.

The District 2 seat, currently held by outgoing Supervisor Ryan Gregory, includes the western half of the city of Napa and surrounding areas west of State Route 29.

Her opponent, Gentry, faced an uphill battle during the campaign, as Alessio quickly gathered the support of county officials, labor unions and the influential Winegrowers of Napa County trade association.

“I did not have the funds that my opposition had,” Gentry said, adding that her opponent “won pretty handily” and that she would call to congratulate Alessio later that night. “I wanted to run, I am glad I was able to run, and I am sorry that I lost but there will be other races, other times to run and other things to run for.”

Alessio says that she looks forward to improving access to mental health and substance abuse resources in the county. “And in a way that includes all stakeholders here in Napa County, from the ER at our hospital to the nonprofits here to county direct services,” she said.

The other two races for seats on the board are much tighter and will most likely be decided in the coming days as county election officials continue to tally day-of votes. In District 4 — which covers the northeast city of Napa, Lake Berryessa and Monticello Park — scientist Amber Manfree holds a slight advantage over former Napa City Councilmember Pete Mott.

This is Manfree’s second run for the Board of Supervisors and her campaign this year garnered the support of the Sierra Club and other environmental groups as well as local labor unions like the SEIU 1021 and the Napa Solano Labor Council.

Speaking from the Napa Women’s Club, Manfree said her campaign included an “outpouring of support” from community members but lamented the low county turnout in this year’s election,

“It just seems that so many people are disillusioned with politics,” she said. “That’s too bad and that’s one of the reasons I was running on a platform that included ethics and transparency.”

Manfree added that she would not be making an official announcement until the county had finalized the tally. Mott, declined to speak to KQED.

If Manfree wins District 4 — regardless of the results in the other two districts — it will mean that every Napa County supervisor will be a woman, a historic first for the county and only the second time in California history, after Los Angeles County became the first to do so in 2020.

In District 5, which includes all of American Canyon and the surrounding area, incumbent Supervisor Belia Ramos was hanging on to a narrow lead over American Canyon City Councilmember Mariam Aboudamous, as of 11:17 p.m. Tuesday, with only 12% of votes counted.

“You work hard in these campaigns and you hope that your messaging resonates with the voters,” Ramos said, at her election night party at Italian restaurant La Strada in American Canyon. “I’m feeling really positive with these initial results and we’ll continue to watch them but it’s a great feeling.”

Her opponent, Aboudamous, said she was also feeling confident despite trailing in early returns, emphasizing that there are many votes left to count and that it’s still possible for her to catch up.

“When I first ran for City Council, the initial results showed me in third place but by the end of the night, I was the top vote-getter,” she said from her home in American Canyon. “It’s too close to call it.”