Napa County Voter Guide: March 2024 Voting Centers, Issues

NAPA COUNTY, CA — Monday is the final day of early voting for the 2024 presidential primary election in California. Local races for the Napa County Board of Supervisors, California State Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives will be closely watched.

Napa County vote centers are open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday and 7 a.m.-8 p.m. on Tuesday. Voters can drop off ballots or vote in person at any vote center in Napa County:

• Napa County Election Division, 1127 1st St., Suite E, Napa
• American Canyon Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 5001 Main St., American Canyon
• Boys and Girls Club, 60 Benton Way, American Canyon
• Calistoga Community Center, 1307 Washington St., Calistoga
• Harvest Middle School, 2449 Old Sonoma Road, Napa
• Las Flores Community Center, 4300 Linda Vista Ave., Napa
• Napa Valley College - Upper Valley Campus, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena
• Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington St., Yountville

With presidential frontrunners former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden expected to win their nominations handily, all eyes in California are on the hotly contested primary race for the seat vacated by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein as well as a slew of local races.

Locally, Napa County voters will vote on the following races and ballot measures:

Napa County Board of Supervisors

• 2nd District candidates: Liz Alessio and Doris Gentry
• 4th District candidates: Pete Mott and Amber Manfree
• 5th District candidates: Belia Ramos and Mariam Aboudamou

Republican Central Committee

• 3rd District candidates: Kevin Hangman and Christopher Bowman
• 4th District candidate: Marjaana Woodworth
• 5th District candidate: Richard Maher

U.S. Representative District 4

• Andrew David Engdahl
• John Munn
• Niket Patwardhan
• Mike Thompson

State Senate District 3

• Thom Bogue
• Christopher Cabaldon
• Jackie Elward
• Jimih Jones
• Rozzana Virga Aliga

Ballot Questions

California Prop 1: Authorizes $6.5 billion in bonds to build mental health and substance abuse treatment facilities and homeless housing.

Howell Mountain Elementary School District Measure D

To construct an early learning center to support transitional kindergarten, upgrade technology,renovate/replace roofs, windows, flooring, cabinetry, HVAC systems and music building, and improve playfields and paved surfaces, shall the Howell Mountain Elementary School District measure authorizing $9 million in bonds, at legal interest rates, and levying approximately $30 per $100,000 of assessed valuation (raising $531,000 annually) while bonds are outstanding, be adopted, with an appointed citizens’ oversight committee and independent audits to assure proper expenditure of funds?

Yountville Measure U

Measure U asks whether the Town can continue to use already collected tax dollars to keep funding general services including law enforcement, fire and emergency medical services, parks and recreation programming, streets, sidewalks, Yountville BeeBus, flood and drainage projects, and the Town's Capital Improvement Program among others. This Measure U increases the appropriations limit by $3 million and will be adjusted annually by the increase in transient occupancy tax revenue from hotels generated locally each year through fiscal year 2026-2027. This measure does not increase or raise taxes. The state requires voter approval to keep these taxes in Yountville otherwise they will be redistributed under state law.

Lake Berryessa Improvement District Measure U

Shall Lake Berryessa Resort Improvement District Ordinance No. 2023-01 be approved? The Ordinance will establish the District's appropriations limit at $510,000.00, for Fiscal Years 2024-2025 through 2027-2028 and this limit will be adjusted annually commencing in Fiscal Year 2025-2026. If Measure U is not adopted, the Limit will revert to the Original Limit ($55,870 as adjusted) that was established in Fiscal Year 1978-1979. Without a voter-approved increase in the Limit, it is not clear how the District will continue to operate because it will be unable to spend the majority of its revenues to provide sewer and water services to its residents Presidential Primary

Presidential Primary

With the presidential preference primary happening March 5, most Golden State residents already have their mail-in ballots in hand.

The primary will decide which candidate gets California's 169 delegates — the largest haul of any state — to the Republican and Democratic national conventions, to be held in July and August, respectively.

All three top contenders have been stumping in California. President Joe Biden and Republican contender Nikki Haley visited Southern California earlier this month. Biden returned Feb. 20 for a series of campaign events in the Los Angeles area. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump campaigned in the Golden State days after skipping the Republican debate in September.

There were notable changes to California's primary this year. It moved up from June to Super Tuesday in March with 13 other states.

In California, the political parties determine whether they will have open or closed presidential parties, meaning only the party's registered voters can pick the winning candidates.

The Green Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and the Republican Party are all holding closed primaries in California

Furthermore, the state's GOP changed the rules to winner-takes-all, so that any candidate who gets a majority wins all of the delegates. Previously, the delegates were divided up based on the number of congressional districts each Republican won.

The change, pushed by the Donald Trump campaign, raises the stakes in California's primary and favors the frontrunner in the Republican primary, which also happens to be Trump.

The American Independent Party, the Democratic Party, and the Libertarian Party hold a modified-closed primary, which means they allow No Party Preference voters to vote in their primaries.

Click here to check your voter and party registration status.

Statewide Primary Elections

All 52 of California's congressional districts will have primary races March 5 along with one U.S. Senate race. With frontrunners Trump and Biden expected to sail to victory in California's presidential primary, the real suspense centers on the Golden State's senate race.

For the senate race, California has an open primary, which means only the top two vote-getters in the primary election, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election.

All election season, polls have shown Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) in the lead with former Los Angeles Dodger Steve Garvey (R), Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine ), and Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland) vying for second place to make it into the general election.

How To Vote On Election Day

Mail-in ballot: Voters can mail in the ballots they received in the mail by signing them, sealing them and placing them in either a mailbox or an approved drop box. Approved drop box locations are listed on Napa County's website. Or Google “drop box locations” and Napa County, and a list should pop up.

All ballots must be postmarked — or turned in at a vote center — by March 5. Ballots mailed back by voters must be received in the mail by election officials by March 12.

Mail-in voters in California have a way to track their ballots to make sure their votes are counted. The California Secretary of State offers Where’s My Ballot? for voters to track and receive notifications on the status of their vote-by-mail ballot.

Traditional in-person voting: Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5. Polling locations are mailed to voters with their ballots.

On election night or the next morning, go online to your local Patch site for up-to-date election results.

2024 Election: Endorsements And Voter Guides

• CalMatters
• East Bay Times
• Los Angeles Times
• The Orange-County Register
• The San Diego-Union Tribune
• Sacramento Bee
• San Francisco Chronicle
• California Secretary of State Voter Guide
• California Democratic Party Endorsements
• California Republican Party Endorsements