New supervisor plans to befriend his rivals

Incoming county supervisor Zach Friend is all smiles Tuesday night in Aptos. The crowd watched election returns and certain news sites on the projector screen at Bittersweet Bistro. (Photos by Tom Dunlap/Register-Pajaronian)

APTOS — Incoming Santa Cruz County 2nd District Supervisor Zach Friend and his staff and backers celebrated his victory over four rivals at Bittersweet Bistro Tuesday night.

Friend won handily with 57 percent of the vote. Corralitos contractor Daniel Beckett was a distant second with 20.5 percent. Because Friend received more than 50 percent of the vote, he wins the seat outright, and doesn’t need to run again in November.

In the morning, Friend caught an early flight to San Diego for his niece’s graduation. Friend, who will start his term in January when he officially replaces retiring supervisor Ellen Pirie, answered our questions via email.



Q: So how does it feel the morning after? What your priorities are now? 

A: I feel remarkably fortunate to have been given the opportunity to serve the 2nd District. During the transition time I plan on spending a lot of time on the county budget and continuing to meet with local residents so I can better address their needs. I will focus on improvements to the roads and highway, public safety and the preservation of agricultural land. Ultimately, I want to spend the next few months listening to our district’s needs.

 Q: Did the race go as you thought it would, or did you think it would be closer? 

A: We knew we had worked hard to build a strong coalition but it was humbling to secure the spot outright.

 Q: Now that you’re such a good listener and such a good neighborhood walker, are you heading back out there this weekend, just for old time’s sake? 

A: I’m at my niece’s high school graduation in Southern California, so nice try.

 Q: What do you want to say to your rivals and what else should I ask you? 

A: I plan on meeting with everyone that I ran against and asking what they heard when they walked neighborhoods. Everyone that ran was doing it because they wanted to make our community a better place to live and I’m sure I can learn a lot from what they heard while campaigning.

The woman who he is replacing said she thought Friend would win by a good margin, “and 37 percent ahead of the next candidate is certainly that. However, with five candidates in the race I knew it would be very hard to win in the primary election by getting more than 50 percent of the vote.”

“The common wisdom was that he would not be able to do that,” Pirie said. “He ran a very energetic and positive campaign and the voters liked what they saw. His hundreds of endorsements were from people across the political spectrum, which showed that he is a good match for the 2nd District ... not too liberal and not too conservative.”

One of the talking points in the campaign were the big “Check it for Beckett” signs that dotted many big intersections and roadways.

“There were more Beckett signs than I would have expected, although most were on public property and not in people’s lawns,” Pirie said. “It’s the signs that got him to 20 percent of the vote. I’m curious to see now if he and (Rich) McInnis take them down like they’re supposed to.”



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