Bruce Ehlers led Rimga Viskanta by 27 votes for Encinitas mayor in the County Registrar's November 4, 2:51:51 a.m. update, after Viskanta led earlier election-night returns, as inewsource reported. The changing lead underscores why the city's top office remains unsettled while ballots are still being counted.
For Encinitas residents, the November 3 election will decide the mayor's office and two council seats, as well as school-board representation according to each voter's school-district and trustee-area boundaries, alongside countywide and state measures with implications for taxes, housing and public services. The first count offers a picture of those decisions, but not their final outcome.
Results snapshot: November 4, 2026. Local figures below come from the San Diego County Registrar's unofficial results page displaying an update of November 4 at 2:51:51 a.m. State proposition figures are from the Secretary of State's separate 8:08 a.m. update. County returns were last checked November 4 at 10:25 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (18:25 UTC); state returns were checked at 10:25 a.m. PST (18:25 UTC). County returns are unchanged from the previous review. The state has added votes since its 6:27 a.m. report; all 14 proposition percentages and leading sides shown below remain unchanged. These are unofficial results, not certified outcomes or race calls.
The margin was even smaller in one San Marcos council contest: Justin Matsushita led Lindsey Smith by eight votes. San Marcos's mayoral candidates were separated by 36 votes, while Vista's District 1 leaders were 29 votes apart.
Substantial counting remains. In the same November 4, 2:51:51 a.m. snapshot, the County Registrar's official results portal reported 766,723 ballots counted and approximately 540,000 projected outstanding ballots countywide. Both figures were rechecked directly on that official page, not taken from a third-party estimate. The outstanding figure is the Registrar's countywide projection, not a count of ballots remaining in Encinitas or in any one race.
The distinction matters throughout this report: a lead describes the votes reported so far. It does not establish who will take office, and a measure's current percentage does not establish its final outcome.
Readers can consult the Registrar's explanation of election counting and California's official proposition voter guide. Direct links to city attorneys' measure analyses and school-district bond filings appear with the relevant measures below.
In this report: Encinitas races; seven nearby cities; school boards; county government; city and district measures; state propositions; and the next steps in counting. City, school, county and state electorates are kept separate.
Encinitas: mayor and District 3 remain close
- Contest: Mayor
Candidate: Bruce Ehlers
Reported votes: 9,779
Reported share: 50.07% - Contest: Mayor
Candidate: Rimga Viskanta
Reported votes: 9,752
Reported share: 49.93% - Contest: Council District 3
Candidate: Arielle Golden
Reported votes: 2,431
Reported share: 50.76% - Contest: Council District 3
Candidate: Ed Sprague
Reported votes: 2,358
Reported share: 49.24% - Contest: Council District 4
Candidate: Brad Lefkowits
Reported votes: 3,079
Reported share: 57.21% - Contest: Council District 4
Candidate: Marco San Antonio
Reported votes: 2,303
Reported share: 42.79%
Ehlers's advantage was just 27 votes out of 19,531 reported mayoral candidate votes. In District 3, Arielle Golden led Ed Sprague by 73. Brad Lefkowits had a wider 776-vote advantage over Marco San Antonio in District 4, but that contest also remains unofficial.
Those are three separate electorates: the mayoral vote is citywide, while each council contest is confined to its district. The mayor's margin cannot be used to estimate how many ballots remain in a council district.
The eventual results will determine who participates in the City's land-use, infrastructure, budget and neighborhood-policy decisions. The early count does not, by itself, demonstrate a mandate for any particular development, tax or housing policy.
The City's election notice identifies a two-year mayoral term ending in November 2028 and four-year District 3 and District 4 terms ending in November 2030. It establishes the offices being elected—not the winners.
No Encinitas-specific municipal measure appears in the county return examined for this report. County Measures A and B still apply to the countywide electorate, including Encinitas. Their countywide percentages do not establish how Encinitas residents voted on those measures.
Nearby cities: the closest contests deserve another count
The following table shows the leading candidate and nearest challenger in selected mayoral and council contests. Other candidates in multi-candidate races are not shown. Percentages are the Registrar's reported shares of each contest, not shares of all registered residents.
Carlsbad
Keith Blackburn led the mayoral field; Districts 1 and 3 had separate council contests. The table lists the first two candidates in each.
- Contest: Carlsbad mayor
Leading candidate: votes / share: Keith Blackburn: 25,392 / 72.66%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Eric Nixon: 5,491 / 15.71% - Contest: Carlsbad Council District 1
Leading candidate: votes / share: Melanie Burkholder: 4,477 / 56.79%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Nate Larson: 3,406 / 43.21% - Contest: Carlsbad Council District 3
Leading candidate: votes / share: Priya Bhat-Patel: 5,691 / 70.31%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Wayland T. Lim: 2,403 / 29.69%
Solana Beach
The portal listed one candidate in each of the two council districts below. That does not establish that every Solana Beach district had a contested race.
- Contest: Council District 2
Listed candidate: Kristi Becker
Reported votes: 636
Reported share: 100.00% - Contest: Council District 4
Listed candidate: Jenna Wolfe-Dellamano
Reported votes: 1,026
Reported share: 100.00%
A 100-percent candidate share here is not 100-percent voter turnout. The City's separate lodging-tax proposal, Measure C, is explained below.
Del Mar
Two seats were at stake. Meghan O. Spieker and Jas Grewal were the current top two, not certified officeholders.
- Council candidate: Meghan O. Spieker
Reported votes: 884
Share of candidate votes: 33.60% - Council candidate: Jas Grewal
Reported votes: 713
Share of candidate votes: 27.10% - Council candidate: Terry Gaasterland
Reported votes: 523
Share of candidate votes: 19.88% - Council candidate: Jeff Sturgis
Reported votes: 511
Share of candidate votes: 19.42%
In this multi-seat contest, percentages are shares of candidate votes, not percentages of individual voters.
Oceanside
Eric Joyce led in District 1, while Richard Robinson led a multi-candidate District 2 field. These are district results, not an Oceanside mayoral vote.
- Contest: Oceanside Council District 1
Leading candidate: votes / share: Eric Joyce: 5,229 / 59.99%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Michael Cline: 3,487 / 40.01% - Contest: Oceanside Council District 2
Leading candidate: votes / share: Richard Robinson: 3,667 / 41.43%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Emily Gonzales: 2,982 / 33.69%
Measures R and S are separate decisions. In particular, the narrow no lead on sales-tax Measure S warrants another check when the count updates.
San Marcos
The mayoral race's 36-vote gap and District 2's eight-vote gap make both priorities for the next official count.
- Contest: San Marcos mayor
Leading candidate: votes / share: Sharon Jenkins: 10,781 / 50.08%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Mike Sannella: 10,745 / 49.92% - Contest: San Marcos Council District 1
Leading candidate: votes / share: Maria Nuñez: 1,836 / 70.08%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Thomas Gabriele: 784 / 29.92% - Contest: San Marcos Council District 2
Leading candidate: votes / share: Justin Matsushita: 3,137 / 50.06%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Lindsey Smith: 3,129 / 49.94%
Vista
Joe Green led the mayoral count. In District 1, Corinna Contreras and Frank Nunez were separated by 29 votes in a multi-candidate field.
- Contest: Vista mayor
Leading candidate: votes / share: Joe Green: 9,674 / 51.24%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Kenneth Zuniga: 9,204 / 48.76% - Contest: Vista Council District 1
Leading candidate: votes / share: Corinna Contreras: 1,224 / 46.24%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Frank Nunez: 1,195 / 45.15% - Contest: Vista Council District 4
Leading candidate: votes / share: Dan O'Donnell: 4,318 / 72.30%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Josh Davis: 1,654 / 27.70%
The school-bond proposal associated with Vista Unified is a school-district measure, not a City Council contest or a tax necessarily paid by every Vista resident.
Escondido
Dane M. White led for mayor. Anthony DiMartino's District 2 advantage over Joe Garcia was 213 votes; it also remains unofficial.
- Contest: Escondido mayor
Leading candidate: votes / share: Dane M. White: 14,909 / 52.51%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Elias Velazquez: 13,485 / 47.49% - Contest: Escondido Council District 1
Leading candidate: votes / share: Vanessa Valenzuela: 2,695 / 63.83%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Tanner Horsley: 1,527 / 36.17% - Contest: Escondido Council District 2
Leading candidate: votes / share: Anthony DiMartino: 4,881 / 51.12%
Nearest challenger: votes / share: Joe Garcia: 4,668 / 48.88%
San Marcos and Vista's District 1 are especially important to revisit when the next batch arrives. A small current advantage is not a basis for treating a seat as settled. Nor does a lead below 50 percent in a multi-candidate contest automatically establish that a runoff will occur.
School boards: Encinitas families have separate district results
The Encinitas Union School District contest allows voters to select up to three candidates. The current top three are Chris Hargrave, Bill Shen and Jillian Cocayne.
- EUSD candidate: Chris Hargrave
Reported votes: 13,211
Share of candidate votes: 23.66% - EUSD candidate: Bill Shen
Reported votes: 11,979
Share of candidate votes: 21.45% - EUSD candidate: Jillian Cocayne
Reported votes: 11,730
Share of candidate votes: 21.01% - EUSD candidate: Jorge Sanchez
Reported votes: 7,831
Share of candidate votes: 14.02% - EUSD candidate: Marika Dixon
Reported votes: 5,818
Share of candidate votes: 10.42% - EUSD candidate: Michelle Clark
Reported votes: 5,272
Share of candidate votes: 9.44%
Because a voter may choose more than one candidate, these percentages are shares of candidate votes, not percentages of individual voters supporting a slate. They should not be added to claim a majority of district voters backed a particular group.
The San Dieguito Union High School District has separate trustee-area contests:
- Trustee area: Area 1
Leading candidate: votes / share: Amy Flicker: 5,687 / 61.39%
Challenger: votes / share: David Miyashiro: 3,577 / 38.61% - Trustee area: Area 3
Leading candidate: votes / share: Helen Doyle: 6,711 / 61.96%
Challenger: votes / share: Summer Boger: 4,121 / 38.04% - Trustee area: Area 5
Leading candidate: votes / share: Justin Moodie: 4,238 / 57.12%
Challenger: votes / share: Ginny Merrifield: 3,182 / 42.88%
School-district boundaries are not interchangeable with city limits, and trustee-area races do not appear on every household's ballot. The SDUHSD board and trustee-area page provides governance and map information; its outgoing-member roster is not proof of a newly elected board. The EUSD website describes the elementary district, but the actual vote totals above come from the Registrar rather than a school homepage. The full official results table also includes neighboring districts.
County government: District 5 and measures affecting the whole county
In Board of Supervisors District 5, Rebecca Jones led Kyle Krahel 86,038 to 55,608, or 60.74 percent to 39.26 percent. That is a district contest, not a countywide vote or a result for every North County address.
By contrast, county Measures A and B were put before voters throughout San Diego County, including Encinitas.
Countywide ballot measures
“Above” means above the approval threshold in counted votes only. Neither row is a declaration of passage or an Encinitas-specific vote breakdown.
- Measure and jurisdiction: A — San Diego County charter
Yes votes / share: 364,995 / 51.68%
No votes / share: 341,237 / 48.32%
Required approval: Majority
Current position: Above - Measure and jurisdiction: B — San Diego County sales tax
Yes votes / share: 374,267 / 51.62%
No votes / share: 350,762 / 48.38%
Required approval: Majority
Current position: Above
Measure A: county charter and term limits. The measure combines changes to oversight, ethics and county administration with an extension of supervisors' maximum service from two four-year terms to three. It had 51.68 percent yes in the reported count.
The County's proposed charter amendments include independent audit/budget functions and an ethics commission. The term-limit change is part of that same package, not a separate yes/no question. The Coast News's pre-election summary describes the competing arguments over linking oversight changes to longer permitted service.
Measure B: a countywide half-cent sales tax. It had 51.62 percent yes. The official ballot language describes funding for Tijuana River sewage mitigation, wildfire/public safety, health care and family-related services, with oversight and audits. It estimates $400 million–$450 million annually and says the tax would last until ended by voters.
Those are proposed uses and revenue estimates, not a guarantee of a specific new service or a verified Encinitas allocation. The Registrar lists a majority threshold for this initiative.
KPBS's Measure B reporting describes the debate over more dependable funding for services and opposition to a tax without an automatic expiration date. Those are attributed arguments, not a finding about the motives of everyone who voted yes or no.
City and district measures: a majority is not always enough
All percentages below are from the same county snapshot. “Above” or “below” means relative to the required approval threshold in counted votes only—not passed or failed.
City-specific measures
- Measure and jurisdiction: C — Solana Beach lodging tax
Yes votes / share: 3,110 / 71.91%
No votes / share: 1,215 / 28.09%
Required approval: Majority
Current position: Above - Measure and jurisdiction: R — Oceanside public-works charter
Yes votes / share: 27,135 / 63.91%
No votes / share: 15,325 / 36.09%
Required approval: Majority
Current position: Above - Measure and jurisdiction: S — Oceanside sales tax
Yes votes / share: 21,498 / 49.56%
No votes / share: 21,880 / 50.44%
Required approval: Majority
Current position: Below
School-district measures
- Measure and jurisdiction: K — Fallbrook elementary-school bonds
Yes votes / share: 5,795 / 53.00%
No votes / share: 5,139 / 47.00%
Required approval: 55%
Current position: Below - Measure and jurisdiction: N — Vista Unified school bonds
Yes votes / share: 20,023 / 56.34%
No votes / share: 15,518 / 43.66%
Required approval: 55%
Current position: Above
Road-district measures
- Measure and jurisdiction: Q — Harris Annex road parcel tax
Yes votes / share: 44 / 84.62%
No votes / share: 8 / 15.38%
Required approval: Two-thirds
Current position: Above - Measure and jurisdiction: T — Pala Mesa road parcel tax
Yes votes / share: 184 / 56.10%
No votes / share: 144 / 43.90%
Required approval: Two-thirds
Current position: Below
None of these measures is being called passed or defeated in this report. An uncalled result is not necessarily a statistical “too close to call” judgment: some leads are substantial, but the remaining local ballot distribution has not been established here.
Solana Beach: a lodging-tax change, not a city sales tax
Measure C would increase the transient occupancy tax from 13 percent to 14 percent, a one-percentage-point change. The City Attorney's analysis also describes updated treatment of lodging-related charges and booking platforms. It estimates approximately $250,000 in additional annual revenue, usable for general City purposes.
It is a lodging tax on qualifying transient stays, not an extra percentage point on all Solana Beach retail purchases.
Oceanside: two distinct proposals, different early directions
Measure R had a substantial yes lead. The City Attorney's analysis says it would align charter provisions with prevailing-wage requirements and expressly allow, but not require, project labor agreements. The analysis also says the City has maintained its eligibility for state public-works funding; the measure should not be described as restoring funding already established to have been lost.
Measure S was much closer, with no ahead by 382 votes. It would add a half-cent sales tax for ten years, beginning on or after April 1, 2027, according to the impartial analysis. The City estimates approximately $20 million annually.
Despite discussion of particular infrastructure needs, the analysis says the revenue could be used for any lawful municipal purpose. That is different from a binding promise to spend every dollar on a named project. Measure S is also separate from county Measure B; this report does not calculate a combined future tax rate before final results and implementation details are established.
School bonds: Vista above 55 percent, Fallbrook below
Vista Unified's Measure N would authorize $543 million in bonds for school improvements. Its 56.34-percent yes share was above the required 55 percent in this count.
Fallbrook Union Elementary's $76 million Measure K had 53-percent yes, below the same threshold. A simple majority therefore did not put it over the approval line.
The Vista and Fallbrook filings describe debt financed through property taxes within the respective districts. Bond authorization is not immediate cash in hand, and repayment costs are not the same as principal alone.
Small road districts: do not confuse the electorate with all North County
Harris Annex's Measure Q was above its two-thirds threshold; Pala Mesa's Measure T was below it, despite more yes than no votes.
The official Harris Annex and Pala Mesa documents describe road-maintenance taxes within specifically bounded permanent road divisions. Neither is an Encinitas-wide property tax or a levy on every North County parcel.
Beginning in fiscal year 2027–28, Q proposes up to $1,000 per developed parcel or $375 per undeveloped parcel. T proposes up to $1,786 per developed parcel or $893 per undeveloped parcel. Both proposals replace existing assessments and permit annual adjustments of up to 5 percent tied to a construction-cost index. These are proposed annual tax limits, not verified net increases for an individual property.
State propositions: statewide totals, not the North County vote
State measures also affect local housing, schools, taxation and government rules. The following is the Secretary of State's statewide count at 8:08 a.m. November 4, a different reporting time and electorate from the county tables above.
Descriptions are abbreviated from the official measure titles. They are not a complete legal analysis of implementation or interactions between measures.
- Proposition: 1
Subject: Affordable-housing bonds, including veterans' mortgages
Yes: 59.4%
No: 40.6%
Leading side: Yes - Proposition: 2
Subject: State rainy-day fund
Yes: 59.6%
No: 40.4%
Leading side: Yes - Proposition: 3
Subject: Extend high-income tax for schools and health care
Yes: 58.7%
No: 41.3%
Leading side: Yes - Proposition: 4
Subject: Repeal the prohibition on public campaign funding
Yes: 48.0%
No: 52.0%
Leading side: No - Proposition: 5
Subject: Statewide-officer recall process
Yes: 50.3%
No: 49.7%
Leading side: Yes - Proposition: 37
Subject: Loans for middle-income buyers of qualifying new homes
Yes: 61.0%
No: 39.0%
Leading side: Yes - Proposition: 38
Subject: Immunology-research bonds
Yes: 55.7%
No: 44.3%
Leading side: Yes - Proposition: 39
Subject: Government-issued voter identification
Yes: 41.4%
No: 58.6%
Leading side: No - Proposition: 40
Subject: One-time tax on certain taxpayers
Yes: 44.4%
No: 55.6%
Leading side: No - Proposition: 41
Subject: Prohibit new state taxes outside the spending limit; audit new special taxes
Yes: 47.6%
No: 52.4%
Leading side: No - Proposition: 42
Subject: Restrictions on certain new personal-property and retroactive taxes
Yes: 54.3%
No: 45.7%
Leading side: Yes - Proposition: 43
Subject: Limits on voters raising local-government revenue
Yes: 45.1%
No: 54.9%
Leading side: No - Proposition: 44
Subject: Require community clinics to spend 90% of revenue on program services
Yes: 18.2%
No: 81.8%
Leading side: No - Proposition: 45
Subject: Environmental review for certain projects
Yes: 45.9%
No: 54.1%
Leading side: No
Proposition 1 includes veterans' housing. The official voter guide says the proposal would authorize $11.25 billion in state bonds for affordable-housing programs, including mortgages for veterans, multifamily rental and supportive housing, preservation of existing affordable housing, and downpayment assistance. It is not solely a general housing-construction measure, and no specific Encinitas allocation has been established here.
For Encinitas readers, housing finance, school/health funding and environmental-review rules are relevant policy areas. But a statewide yes lead does not establish that a particular local housing project has funding or approval, or that a school district will receive a specified additional amount.
Proposition 5 was particularly close at 50.3 percent yes. None of these rows is a declaration of passage. The state page reports precincts partially reporting; that is not the percentage of all ballots counted.
What the results could mean for Encinitas
Leadership remains unsettled. The mayoral and two district elections will determine three of the City's five elected positions. That makes the final outcomes important for Council deliberations, but it does not establish a political bloc or prove that any particular housing, transportation or budget proposal will pass. No candidate platform is being substituted for an enacted City policy.
The tax proposals have different reach. County Measure B would apply countywide if approved and implemented. Oceanside's Measure S is a separate city proposal; Solana Beach's C concerns lodging. The Fallbrook and Vista school bonds and small road-district taxes apply within their own boundaries, not automatically to Encinitas households. A resident's actual tax exposure requires the relevant jurisdiction and implementation details, not a sum of every proposal in this regional report.
Schools and City Hall are different governing bodies. The EUSD and SDUHSD results will determine their respective board representation, not seats on the Encinitas City Council. Trustee-area boundaries matter when residents identify the result relevant to their address.
What is not yet known: certified outcomes, an Encinitas-only breakdown of county/state measure votes, a reliable remaining-ballot count for each close race, or adopted post-election spending decisions. We have not estimated any of those missing figures.
What happens next
The Registrar's counting explanation says later totals will include additional eligible mail and provisional ballots. Mail ballots postmarked by Election Day and received by November 10 are considered timely, subject to the normal validity checks.
The announced next county updates are by 6 p.m. November 5, November 6 and November 9, with further postings at the Registrar's discretion. The results portal carries the current next-post notice.
The County says certification is expected on or before December 3. The state results page separately lists December 11 for state certification. Those are different stages, not conflicting claims that the count is already complete.
Until then, the practical watch list starts with Encinitas's mayoral and District 3 races, San Marcos's mayoral and District 2 contests, Vista District 1, Oceanside Measure S, and measures close to their required approval thresholds.
Method: This report is a source-based review of official returns and ballot documents. It includes selected municipal and school races, county government and ballot measures, not every contest on every North County ballot. No candidate concession, victory statement, interview, independent projection or certified outcome is asserted.
Prepared with AI-assisted source review and checked against official election returns.
For more local coverage, see Encinitas Life's Politics section and local news.