Politics & Government

Hercules Recall Leaders Land Council Seats

Romero, Wilkins and Boulanger were Tuesday night's recall election winners.

The three leaders of a turbulent recall election wound up on top Tuesday, as voters elected Dan Romero,  and  to the Hercules City Council.

The process has led to the  of one mayor, the ouster of his replacement and a complete turnover of the five-member council that was in place just six months ago. 

Romero will take the council seat left vacant after former Mayor Ed Balico resigned in January, avoiding a recall. Wilkins will unseat, who took over as mayor after Balico left, and Boulanger will replace Councilman . 

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The recall against Ward was supported by 87 percent of the voters, while 80 percent voted to remove Kuehne.

None of the three winners responded to Hercules Patch’s phone calls Tuesday night.

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Romero, who ran against Planning Commission and 44 Sports Lounge owner , got 46 percent of the votes.

Wilkins won with 52.5 percent of the votes, while his challenger  trailed closely behind with 46 percent. Tuesday night, De La Vega said he would continue to serve as vice chairman on the Hercules Ad Hoc Citizens Advisory Finance Committee if not elected. “I don’t know if I’m going to (run for office) again but what a good experience,” he said. 

About 13 percent of voters voted “no” on the recall of Joanne Ward. "I've enjoyed living in the community and I've immensely enjoyed serving in the community in the ways that I have done that, on commissions as well as the City Council," said Ward, who was a councilwoman for over 10 years. "It has been my honor and privilege to be an active part of the Hercules community."

News about Boulanger’s resume padding over the weekend appears to have affected his support at the polls.

The absentee ballots sent to the county Elections Office showed Boulanger getting 95.6 percent of the vote. On Election Day, he received 85.3 percent of the vote, but that doesn't tell the full story.

About a third of the voters who showed up at the polls Tuesday chose not to cast any vote on the question of who should replace Kuehne. Only 832 votes were cast in that race, while about 1,200 were cast on three other questions on the Hercules ballot – the vote for the council seat vacated by former Mayor Ed Balico, the Kuehne recall and the Ward recall. About 1,100 votes were cast in the Wilkins-De La Vega contest.

Still, a majority, about 57 percent, of the Hercules voters who went to the polls Tuesday voted for Boulanger, with the rest either casting write-in votes or abstaining from that race.

Boulanger did not respond to a message left for him late Tuesday night. Neither did Kuehne.

The three newly elected candidates’ terms are up for reelection in November 2012.


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