53% Turnout, 70% ‘No’ Votes

The latest election results, posted late Friday on the Contra Costa County election site, showed that with 9,587 El Cerrito ballots counted, 70.65% voted ‘no’ on the Measure C library tax while 29.38% voted ‘yes.’

They also showed that 53.68% of El Cerrito’s 17,859 voters cast ballots. That turnout is high compared to many past primary elections in the city, and higher than the 36.6% turnout so far for Contra Costa County as a whole.

Early Returns Showed 72% Voted ‘No’

As of the last posting on Election Night, 5,490 El Cerrito ballots had been counted. The county reported that 3,844 voters -- or 72.43% -- voted ‘no’ on Measure C, while 1,463 -- or 27.57% -- voted ‘yes’.

The county estimates that as of late Friday, there were 55,200 unprocessed ballots countywide.

Nowinski’s Numbers Showed the Outcome

At a party for the ‘No on C’ campaign workers on Wednesday night at the Veterans Hall, campaign leader Wally Nowinski said he had no hesitation in claiming victory for the “No” campaign. Nowinski crunched the numbers from early returns and showed the happy group there was no way the library tax would win.

A ‘No on C’ Celebration

About 100 people who worked on the ‘no’ campaign attended the party. They drank champagne, shot off confetti poppers, and talked politics. Many people said they had expected the election to be close, while a few people who said they had knocked on many doors had expected a strong ‘no’ vote.

Campaign leader Barbara Chan introduced the team of five people who first decided to actively oppose the library tax initiative.

In addition to Chan and Nowinski, they are Justin Chang, Kimberly White, and Bill Claus.

What Did the Vote Show?

Asked for a statement, Chan wrote this:

“The voters of El Cerrito demonstrated by their votes against Measure C that we are tired of the city wasting money and pushing an unwanted project and huge parcel tax on residents and businesses. Other cities got library grants to defray costs; El Cerrito is the only one that did not apply for them.”

“People are angry that four city council members insisted on rushing the initiative to a special election that wasted $80K of our tax money when we still have big debts and other priorities to pay for.”

Chan continued:“Voters want the council and city manager to listen to them and not just push their agenda on the residents. No on C voters want an updated, expanded library that we can afford, and we believe that can happen at the library site we already own.”

Nowinski's View

Nowinski posted on Nextdoor after the Friday elections update:

“I knew Measure C was deeply flawed and could be defeated, but I am blown away by the margin. People say this issue was divisive, but the results tell a different story. The City came together to reject Measure C in a landslide. And the results were remarkably consistent across the community.”

“According to the data from thousands of conversations our canvasing team had, ‘No’ carried:

• Every single age group by double digit margins

• Both homeowners and renters

• Democrats, Republicans and NPP voters all opposed it by double digit margins

• Newcomers (less than 2 years in EC) and lifers alike all voted no by a wide margin.”

‘Yes on C’ Statement

Greg Lyman, a leader of the ‘Yes on C’ campaign, wrote, “I am disappointed and acknowledge the outcome. I am interested in the future of the library.”

He forwarded an official ‘Yes on C’ campaign statement signed by Lyman and Charles Taylor that said:

“The voters spoke, and Measure C was not approved. We respect that decision.”

“At the same time, the need to modernize our library did not disappear. The work remains unfinished, and our community must determine the best path forward. Many who opposed Measure C said they shared the goal of a new or substantially improved library, but disagreed with this funding proposal. We acknowledge those views and take their commitments seriously.”

“Now's the time for shared leadership. We look forward to hearing their ideas, seeing their proposals, and working together to identify a viable path forward. Finding a solution that serves the community will require good-faith dialogue, careful consideration of different perspectives, and a willingness to compromise. The conversation must be about what we all can support and agree on. Please take a few minutes to complete our anonymous three-question survey.”

Perspective of council member William Ktsanes

William Ktsanes, the lone El Cerrito council member not to endorse Measure C, said he was "very surprised by how resoundingly Measure C was defeated — 3 to 1, by the last numbers I saw."

He added: "The high profile 'yes' endorsements—from four out of five current El Cerrito councilmembers, at least eight former councilmembers and mayors, the El Cerrito Democratic Club, Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia, State Senator Jesse Arreguín, and State Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, among others—didn't seem to make much difference. Voters were engaged and clearly made their own decision.”

“Many residents felt there was a lack of transparency, citing as an example the city not releasing the higher cost estimate until nine months after it was received from consultants and only after signatures were already submitted to get the measure on the ballot. A takeaway for me is that the city—management and council alike—have a long way to go to build confidence and trust, and to heal deep divisions in our community. We can start by being better fiscal stewards.”

For more interim election updates posted Friday, go to https://www.contracostavote.gov/june-2-2026-election-results/.