Novasel, Brown to vie for District 5 supe seat

By Kathryn Reed

Sue Novasel and Kevin Brown, as the top two vote getters for El Dorado County District 5 supervisor, will be squaring off in November.

They never relinquished their lead as numbers started coming in just after 8pm June 3.

With all precincts reporting, Novasel garnered 27.46 percent of the vote (1,135 votes), Brown 19.06 percent (788), Angela Swanson 17.83 percent (737), Kenny Curtzwiler 17.68 percent (731), Gerri Grego 12.07 percent (499), and Teresa Piper 5.68 percent (235).

Either Kevin Brown or Sue Novasel will be the next District 5 supervisor.

Certification of the vote usually takes about a month so provisional ballots can be counted, which means the numbers are unofficial at this point and could change.

Norma Santiago was termed out, thus creating the opening.

“I want to say how honored I am to have our community’s support. I will continue to work hard during this campaign for District V and I promise to be a strong voice for all of our communities throughout the district,” Novasel told Lake Tahoe News.

She and her husband were out until after midnight picking up campaign signs.

Brown said Novasel was one of the two people he thought he might be facing five months from now.

One thing he is alarmed about is the low voter turnout in this particular race compared to other races in the county. Getting people to the polls, he said, will be a big goal in November.

“We did knock on doors. We made phone calls, but the money was scarce with six running for the spot,” Brown told Lake Tahoe News.

This seat is no longer a Tahoe-only district. It now stretches to Pollock Pines, where Brown resides.

Novasel is a longtime Meyers resident.

One thing they have in common is both are school board members.

What remains to be seen is if Swanson will run for City Council to retain her seat on that body. Swanson said she would only speak through her campaign manager, but provided no contact information for him.

There will also be a runoff for the District 4 supervisorial seat. Howard Penn finished with 1,737 votes or 21.87 percent, while Michael Ranalli tallied 1,708 votes for 21.5 percent.